The Western Power Gas Project at Effasu in the Western Region which has the capacity to generate over 200 megawatts of electricity, will commence operation next month.

The gas plant will raise the national power production capacity to 1,850 megawatts, from the present 1,650 megawatts of power produced jointly from the Akosombo Dam, the Kpong Power Generation Plant and the Thermal Plant at Aboadze, near Takoradi.

The project had been delayed because the oil barge ordered by the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) to convey natural gas from the Tano Oilfields to feed the Effasu Gas Plant, had for some inexplicable reasons been lying idle at a port in Italy. Even though all other facilities are ready at the Effasu Gas Plant site, the absence of gas had prevented the plant from commencing operations.

But the good new is that the barge, secured at a penalty of $10 million and paid for by the nation, would soon arrive in the country and transported to the plant to revive the entire project to stay on course. The amount covered demurrage and port maintenance charges on the barge.

A highly-placed source at the Ministry of Energy which disclosed these in Accra on Thursday, said that the project would be operated by Tano Energy Ghana Limited, a subsidiary of a Scotish oil company, which is ready for the task. In this connection, the Energy Minister, Mr Albert Kan Dapaah, on Wednesday, laid before Parliament for approval, a Petroleum Production Agreement between the Ghana Government, GNPC and Tano Energy, Ghana Limited, for the conduct of developing the Tano field offshore in connection with the project.

The source said that the 1,850 megawatts of power to be generated would be far in excess of the nation’s actual consumption estimated at ?1,200 megawatts. “Whereas the Aboadze plant is fired by expensive light crude oil, on the contrary, the Effasu plant, would be fired by natural gas, which is affordable, and makes the plant’s operation less expensive.”

It expressed regret that the plant had lay idle for all these years due to the absence of the power barge, and hoped that it would be put to its intended use when the barge eventually arrived back in the county.

With fuel cost as its main problem, the Aboadze plant spends nine million dollars on every shipload of light crude oil in a month when operating at full capacity on a 24-hour daily basis. As at last year, the plant’s operational cost had gone up about three times when the ongoing West Africa Gas Pipeline Project (WAGO) is completed. But the Effasu plant would not benefit from the WAGP because it was not included in the project’s original plan.