Ghana’s Energy Minister, Peter Amewu, has said that the government places a high premium on the Karpower project, and, therefore, expects all players to work closely to ensure its successful completion. He urged the Ghana Gas Company, Amandi the contractor and ENI Ghana, to work according to schedule to enable the country as well as businesses benefit from the project.
Ghanaian Times reported yesterday that Mr Amewu had visited the Offshore Transmission Station (OTS) at Essipun and the Karpower sites at Sekondi, the Western Region to assess progress of work ahead of the tie-in of the Gas Processing Plant at Atuabo to the Karpowership and onto the national grid.
He said the project was of crucial importance to the country and, therefore, asked the players to commit themselves to it and also consider it “as a high priority one and double up,” the report said
Speaking to newsmen, the minister said Ghana Gas granted access to ENI to work with Amandi for a successful tie-in schedule. The Karpower project, he argued, would reduce the cost of transporting gas from Takoradi to Tema, adding, that, running the power ship on light crude oil was very expensive.
“Karpower is here and that is a high priority for the government. Government is instituting measures for an affordable, flexible, cheaper and stable power supply. I believe Ghanaians need to give us the credit. We will work for Ghanaian businesses to grow because of the power we are giving to them” the Energy Minster stated.
Mr Amewu said that one key part of the project was to reduce the pressure of gas from the Takoradi Regulation and Metering Station (TRMS) at Aboadze and pipe it through the Offshore Transmission Station (OTS) at Essipun to feed the Karpowership at the Western Naval Base at Sekondi.
Earlier, accompanied by his Deputy, and also Member of Parliament for Effia, Joseph Cudjoe, Mr Amewu visited the Ghana Gas (TRMS) at Aboadze to inspect progress of work on site.
The General Manager of Amandi, David-Ben Ayun, pledged that his company would work with ENI for a successful tie-in of the pipelines to Karpower according to schedule. He said, despite some operational challenges, Amandi was committed to a first-class delivery to the Karpower project.
The Karadeniz Powership Osman Khan, which adds 450 megawatts (MW) of power to the national grid, was shut down temporarily for about 17 days, and set sail to Sekondi on Thursday, August 15. It docked at the port of the Western Naval Command in Sekondi, where it will tap into natural gas supplies from the country’s oil fields.
The report said this was to save the country cost of using fossil fuel to generate thermal power from its base at the Tema Fishing Harbour.
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