Power outage hits Ghana, others as Nigeria’s gas disruption lingers

Some parts of Ghana and other West African countries are currently experiencing blackouts due to a lingering disruption in gas supply from Nigeria.

According to findings by our correspondent, there have been blackouts in several cities in Ghana, Republic of Benin and Togo, following the development.

The West African Gas Pipeline Company Limited in Accra, Ghana, had on Wednesday announced it was experiencing a drop in gas volumes available for transportation.

In a statement, WAPCO said one of its gas producers in Nigeria was carrying out some maintenance works. As a result, the gas producer was said to have shut its facility for a three-week maintenance work.

This, it said, resulted in a decrease in gas available for WAPCo to transport to customers in Togo, Benin and Ghana.

“The West African Gas Pipeline Company Limited regrets to announce that it is experiencing a drop in gas volumes available for transportation due to ongoing maintenance works by one of its gas producers in Nigeria.

“One of the producers of the natural gas WAPCo transports from Nigeria has shut down its facility for a three-week maintenance, resulting in a decrease of gas available for WAPCo to transport to customers in Togo, Benin and Ghana. The current situation is entirely out of WAPCo’s control.

“WAPCo continues to transport gas from the Westen Region of Ghana to Tema, also in Ghana, and we expect normalcy to return after the maintenance activities,” the statement read.

Consequently, the affected countries are now currently experiencing power challenges due to the development, according to findings.

Already, the Ghana Grid Company Limited and the Electricity Company of Ghana have informed electricity consumers in the country that some areas have been plunged into the darkness.

In a jointly signed statement, Ghana Grid Company Limited and the Electricity Company of Ghana said they “wish to inform the public that due to a reduction in gas supply from Nigeria since Wednesday 12th June 2024 some areas across the country have experienced interruption in power supply.”

The statement read further, “The West Africa Gas Pipeline Company, in a statement, has explained that the reduction in gas supply was due to maintenance works being undertaken by a gas supplier in Nigeria and is projected to last three weeks.

“The maintenance has caused a reduction in overall power generation capacity in Ghana which could result in load management over the period of the work.”

While apologising to its customers, GRIDCo and ECG assured the public that they were collaborating with other stakeholders in the power value chain to optimise available resources to ensure minimal impact of the reduction in gas supply on consumers.

“GRIDCo and ECG sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused,” the statement concluded.

The West African Gas Pipeline Company Limited owns and operates the West African Gas Pipeline, a regional infrastructure linking natural gas resources to customers within the West Africa sub-region especially in Ghana.

The WAGP is a bi-directional pipeline system with gas supply from both the east (Nigeria) and the west (Ghana) of the pipeline system.