Hydrocarbon Processing - February 2021 - GP-9

REGIONAL FOCUS

Developing LNG infrastructure
for West Africa's gas-to-power push
S. OIRERE, Contributing Writer

In West Africa, governments have embraced the use of gas
as a low-carbon fuel to increase electricity generation, which
is creating additional demand for LNG. Although Africa has
substantial gas reservoirs, the needed LNG supply is presently
sourced from the international market as leading producers in
the region grapple with supply challenges. These challenges can
be partly solved, however, through investment in modern gas
storage facilities.
Natural gas production is still in its infancy in Ghana, Senegal
and Côte d'Ivoire. Gas storage infrastructure, especially underground storage, has not yet been achieved since gas reservoirs
in producing countries have not yet been depleted. This means
that West African nations' gas-to-power campaigns require other forms of gas storage to ensure support for electricity generation that, at the moment, relies heavily on imported LNG.

FIG. 1. The planned Tema LNG import terminal offshore Ghana. Image
courtesy of Tema LNG Terminal Co.

Advancing LNG infrastructure in West Africa. Investment

in LNG import infrastructure is an emerging trend in West Africa as leading natural gas producers such as Nigeria, Ghana,
Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal, Equatorial Guinea and Benin grapple
with challenges that have constrained the consistency of their
gas production.
The region's natural gas producers are still courting international oil companies with opportunities in their upstream spaces,
but production has remained inadequate to support increased
power generation requirements. This has led to a shift in focus
to the construction of LNG regasification and storage facilities.
For example, Nigeria, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana and Senegal-
the leading gas-to-power markets in West Africa-have plans
to generate a combined additional 7,759 MW of power from
gas by 2030, of which 2,222 MW is projected to come online
by 2025. To realize this plan, the countries' governments have
entered into agreements with international gas suppliers to
supplement their inadequate domestic supply. They have also
drawn up LNG storage projects to meet the seasonal demand
expected from end users, such as electricity generation plants
and industrial users.

The previous approval of a concession by Tema LNG Terminal Co. Ltd. (Tema LNG), a JV between Helios Investment
Partners and Ghana National Petroleum Co. (GNPC), for the
construction of an LNG import terminal was a major step in
Ghana's efforts to hedge available gas supplies for power generation. GNPC previously signed a 12-yr gas supply agreement
with Rosneft Trading SA for the supply of 1.7 metric MMtpy of
gas to serve the Tema region.
Under the supply agreement, GNPC will purchase LNG
from Rosneft Trading for regasification and subsequent delivery to thermal independent power producers and industrial
customers. In accordance with the plan, Rosneft Trading has
signed an agreement with Tema LNG Terminal Co. for the development of a 240-MMsft3d LNG import terminal that will
be linked to a floating storage unit (FSU) and a floating regasification unit (FRU). The FRU arrived offshore Ghana in
early January 2021.
The Tema LNG terminal project was preceded by a similar
deal between GNPC and Bermuda-based LNG shipping company Golar for the supply of 170,000 m3 of gas from the Golar
Tundra FSRU to support Ghana's LNG imports.

Ghana pushes ahead with Tema LNG. Ghana is targeting

Côte d'Ivoire eyes FSRU. In Côte d'Ivoire, where gas is a criti-

an additional 1,718 MW of power generation from gas by 2030.
In partnership with the private sector, the government has invested in new commercial LNG import infrastructure, namely
the Tema LNG import terminal (FIG. 1). At present, Ghana relies on the 678-km West African Gas Pipeline for its gas supply;
however, the pipeline has a historically erratic supply trend due
to payment disputes, technical issues and upstream gas supply
issues with Nigeria.

cal part of the country's energy mix, the government is working
to fast-track modern LNG import infrastructure to regasify and
store LNG for distribution to end users.
The country has an estimated 1 Tft3 of developed gas resources, but this is inadequate to meet demand; Côte d'Ivoire has an
estimated gas deficit of 0.35 Tft3y. Additional gas must be imported, regasified, stored and distributed to support the planned
generation of 1,271 MW of gas-fired electricity by 2030.
Gas Processing & LNG | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 9
Hydrocarbon Processing - February 2021

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