Several West African nations, including parts of Ghana, are currently experiencing widespread blackouts due to a prolonged disruption in gas supply from Nigeria.
This development has resulted in power outages in multiple cities across Ghana, the Republic of Benin, and Togo.
On Wednesday, the West African Gas Pipeline Company Limited in Accra, Ghana, announced a significant reduction in gas volumes available for transportation.
The company attributed this drop to maintenance work being carried out by one of its gas producers in Nigeria, which required a three-week shutdown of the facility.
In a statement, WAPCo explained, “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 assured that it continues to transport gas from the Western Region of Ghana to Tema and expects normalcy to resume once the maintenance is completed.
The gas supply disruption has led to significant power challenges in the affected countries.
The Ghana Grid Company Limited and the Electricity Company of Ghana have notified electricity consumers about the situation.
Their joint statement informed the public that due to the reduction in gas supply from Nigeria since Wednesday, June 12, 2024, several areas across the country have faced power interruptions.
“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,” the statement from GRIDCo and ECG further elaborated.
Apologizing to customers, GRIDCo and ECG assured that they are working with other stakeholders in the power sector to optimize available resources and minimize the impact on consumers.
“GRIDCo and ECG sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused,” the statement concluded.
The West African Gas Pipeline Company Limited operates the West African Gas Pipeline, a crucial regional infrastructure connecting natural gas resources to customers throughout West Africa, particularly in Ghana.
The pipeline system is bi-directional, supplying gas from both the east, Nigeria, and the west, Ghana.
