The Tema Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) terminal Company Limited is yet to acquire the requisite licences to commence full operations at the Tema Port.
This is according to the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) in its 2020 Annual Report.
In the report, PIAC asserts that although the company has been duly registered with the Energy Commission, the company is still in the process of obtaining a licence to operate the LNG facility at the Tema Port.
The Committee however, notes that siting and construction permits have been issued to the company by the Energy Commission.
“The Energy Commission issued a Siting Permit with number EC/SP/004-18-002 and a Construction Permit with number TC/TLTCL-CP/009- 18-001 to facilitate the construction of the Facility. The construction permit was renewed by the Commission to continue the construction works of the Facility. The Commission also facilitated the issuance of a National Security clearance for the docking of the Floating Regasification Unit (FRU) in the Ghana Breakwaters,” noted PIAC.
Adding works by Tema LNG Terminal Company Limited has been behind scheduled due to Covid-19 with a new commissioning date for the LNG facility rescheduled to the end of second quarter of 2021.
”The Energy Commission’s inspection reveals that work by the Company was progressing steadily but behind schedule due to COVID-19. The Commissioning Date of the LNG facility was re-scheduled from the 1 st to 2 nd quarter of 2021,” PIAC stated.
Tema LNG terminal was initially expected to commence full operations at the end of March 2021, according S&P Global Platts and which was confirmed by Shell the supplier, and the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) the offtaker.
The Tema LNG terminal is made up of a dedicated floating regasification unit (FRU), built by Jiangnan Shipbuilding, and a separate floating LNG storage (FSU).
It has the capacity to receive, re-gasify, store, and deliver around 1.7 million tonnes of LNG a year, about 30 per cent of Ghana’s general capacity.
The long-term supply deal between Royal Dutch Shell and the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation will see Spanish LNG terminal operator Reganosa, run and maintain the terminal and the associated 6-km gas pipeline for 12 years and then transfer operatorship to the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation.
The Tema LNG, backed by Helios Investment Partners and Africa Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM), is the first offshore LNG receiving terminal in sub-Saharan Africa.
The terminal provides Ghana with all the functionality of a large scale FRU-terminal, but with added flexibility, allowing it to respond to rapidly increasing domestic gas demand with a cleaner and more affordable energy solution.
The Tema LNG terminal aims to meet Ghana’s growing energy demand through an innovative yet cost-efficient and reliable supply.
