Spanish LNG company Reganosa has been awarded the contract to operate and maintain the 1.7 million tpa Tema LNG terminal in Tema, Ghana, which has just taken delivery of its new floating regasification unit (FRU).
The terminal, which is currently under construction, will be the first offshore LNG receiving terminal in sub-Saharan Africa. Tema LNG is backed by Helios Investment Partners and Africa Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM). The FRU arrived in Ghana on 7 January 2021. It was purpose-built for the terminal by Jiangnan Shipbuilding, a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation, and left the Jiangnan shipyard in November 2020. Tema LNG Terminal Company (TLTC) now expects to begin supplying customers in Q1 2021.
The FRU will be combined with an existing LNG carrier, which will act as a floating storage unit (FSU). The developers say that the development will have the functionality of a conventional FRU terminal but with added flexibility to rapidly respond to increasing domestic gas demand in Ghana. TLTC has built the necessary marine infrastructure for LNG loading and regasfication at Tema Port. The FRU will be connected to the port facilities via subsea pipelines. Shell will supply the LNG under a long-term contract.
‘The Tema LNG terminal aims to meet Ghana’s growing energy demand through an innovative yet cost-efficient, reliable supply. Once operational, this FRU will allow the Tema LNG facility to receive, regasify, store and deliver roughly 1.7 million tonnes of LNG a year – 30% of Ghana’s general capacity. Tema LNG’s year-round supply of gas will enable the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) to supply reliable and cost-effective gas into the Tema power and industrial enclave, while strengthening West Africa’s energy security,’ says Edmund Agyeman-Duah, the project manager of TLTC.
Reganosa will operate and maintain the FRU and the FSU as well as the 6 km long gas pipeline, and a pressure reduction and metering station connected to the existing pipeline network.
Emilio Bruquetas, Reganosa’s CEO, says: ‘We are so proud to contribute our knowledge and experience to this unique project for the development of Ghana and sub-Saharan Africa. We are pleased to collaborate with TLTC on what is our first Africa-based project. We continue to grow in Spain, promoting a green and digital economy, and at the same time we are reinforcing our internationalisation process.’
