By J. Ato Kobbie, Managing Editor

Construction works for a 110-kilometre onshore pipeline to transport processed gas from Atuabo, in the Ellembelle District of the Western Region to Takoradi to fuel the Aboadze Thermal Power plant, is set to commence by the middle of September, 2012.

The laying of the pipeline is scheduled to commence following the delivery of over 9,000 land pipes by Sinopec to the Ghana National Gas Company (Ghana Gas) in mid-August for the onshore aspect of the project.

Sources close to the project indicate that the construction work will commence simultaneously at about 10 different sites along the stretch of the pipeline route, to ensure speedy completion.

“The project will not be fast-tracked at the expense of quality,” Dr. Joe Oteng-Adjei, Minister of Energy had told the press when inspecting the first consignment of 3,268 pipes in early August.
Dr. Oteng-Adjei had commended Sinopec International Petroleum Service Corporation of China, without whose involvement he said the project could not have reached its current stage, appealing to the Ghanaian counterparts working on the project to keep pace with the Chinese work culture.
Construction of the gas infrastructure, which involves the 110-kilometre onshore pipeline, 45-kilometre offshore pipeline and a 150-million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfpd) capacity gas processing plant, is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Engineers are expected to employ a horizontal directional drilling (HDD) technique, which means the pipes would be laid under the Amansure River at Atuabo.
Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Gas, Dr. George Sipa-Adjah Yankey, has assured all those to be affected by the project that a fair and adequate compensation would be paid them and warned against any unlawful acts that could affect the timeline of the project.
The Business Analyst has gathered that pipes for the construction of the remaining 45-kilometre stretch of the offshore pipeline from the Jubilee Field’s FPSO Kwame Nkrumah M.V. 21 to Atuabo, together with the gas processing plant to be sited there are under construction in China.
The initial 14-kilometre offshore pipeline from the Jubilee Field was laid in early 2011 by Technip, using its Apache II, pipe-laying vessel.
The project is being funded by a $850-million China Development Bank (CDB) facility contracted by the government of Ghana under a $3-billion facility for upgrading the country’s infrastructure.
In addition the primary objective of fueling the Aboadze thermal plant for cheaper cost of generating electricity, the project is expected to make available liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as well as form the basis for a fertilizer production in the western region.
Sinopec is managing the construction of the project under an agreement with Ghana Gas.
The print version of this article was originally published in The Business Analyst of Wednesday, 15th August – Tuesday, 21st August, 2012. E-Mail: j.atokobbie@yahoo.com