Phase two of the West African Gas Pipeline Company Limited’s (WAPCO) scheduled cleaning and inspection of the West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP) will begin in January of next year.
This was disclosed in a statement was signed by Dr. Isaac Adjei Doku, General Manager, Corporate Affairs at WAPCO, and received by Energy of Africa in the third quarter of 2024.
The company undertook the first phase of the exercise on Monday, November 25, 2024, where it cleaned and inspected the onshore section of the pipeline located within Nigeria.
The second phase of the project involved the cleaning and inspection of the main section of the pipeline, which was offshore, stretching from Badagry, in Lagos State, Nigeria, to Takoradi, in the Western Region of Ghana.
The statement noted that during the offshore cleaning and inspection period in 2025, WAPCO would temporarily suspend reverse flow transportation of gas from the Western Region to Tema.
The maintenance is crucial and fulfills all legal necessity to guarantee the pipeline’s safe and effective functioning through the thorough cleaning and inspection procedure as mentioned in the statement.
The 10-day maintenance exercise encompassed the whole pipeline system, from Takoradi in Ghana’s Western Region to Itoki in Ogun State, Nigeria, and was in line with industry best practices.
“It is part of WAPCo’s ongoing efforts to maintain the integrity of the WAGP and ensure its continued safe and reliable operation across the West African region.
“This will also necessitate the shutdown of key facilities in Tema, Ghana; Lomé, Togo; and Cotonou, Benin. Also, WAPCO will replace subsea valves located at these strategic locations to enhance operational safety,” it stated.
Accordingly, WAPCO is required to conduct these inspections every five years, and the last major inspection was done in January 2020.
As part of the exercise, WAPCO said it would continue to engage all relevant stakeholders to address any issues to ensure the project’s success.
