The West African Gas Pipeline Company Limited (WAPCo) says it has began the transport of natural gas from Takoradi to the eastern part of the country.

A statement from WAPCo said in June 2019, they completed commissioning and performance testing of the Takoradi phase of the Takoradi - Tema Interconnection Project (TTIP).

“During the performance test, natural gas was successfully transported from the Western Region of Ghana to Tema, in the eastern part of the country,” WAPCo wrote.

WAPCo Managing Director, Greg Germani, described the feat as “historic” and a positive contribution to economic development in the sub-region.

Read WAPCo’s full statement below:

The West African Gas Pipeline Company Limited (WAPCo), operator of the West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP) in June 2019 completed commissioning and performance testing of the Takoradi phase of the Takoradi - Tema Interconnection Project (TTIP). During the performance test, natural gas was successfully transported from the Western Region of Ghana to Tema, in the eastern part of the country.

WAPCo is now transporting natural gas from the west to the east at the request of customers.

“This is historic and WAPCo and its shareholders are happy to contribute in a positive way to economic development in the sub-region in general and within the specific WAGP states by transporting natural gas from sources where there is abundance to other areas which have little or none,” states Greg Germani, WAPCo Managing Director.

The TTIP is a collaboration between WAPCo, the Ghanaian Energy Ministry, the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, the Ghana National Gas Company and Eni Ghana. The project involves the expansion of WAPCo facilities at Takoradi and Tema as well as the tie-in of the West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP) system at Takoradi to the Ghana National Gas Company’s facility/line. This was achieved by the execution of various commercial agreements by the parties.

Following the successful completion of the Takoradi phase of the project, the WAGP can be used to transport natural gas from the Western Region of Ghana to the Eastern part and at the same time continue to be used to transport gas from Nigeria to Benin, Togo and Ghana.

The WAGP was originally built to transport natural gas from Nigeria to Benin, Togo and Ghana. However, in recognition of the changing needs and developments in the sub-regional energy market, WAPCo began to undertake a number of actions to fulfill the dream of its initiator; ECOWAS. That is, to provide a sub-regional infrastructure that will help promote sub-regional integration and development by transporting natural gas to meet the energy needs of the various countries. Achieving reverse flow is one of the latest in a series of actions undertaken by WAPCo to make the WAGP flexible and adaptable to the needs of the sub-region.

The Tema phase of the Takoradi - Tema Interconnection project which will lead to further expansion of the facilities at WAPCo’s Tema Regulating and Metering Station is being worked to meet the increase gas demands needs in the Tema region.

 WAPCo is committed to ensuring a secure infrastructure that is responsive to the changing energy needs of Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria. As a testimony to this commitment, WAPCo continues to safely and reliably operate the WAGP network and manage the integrity of its assets in line with world-class operational excellence management systems.