Civil society is urging government to expedite approval and development of Ghana’s Second Gas Processing Plant (GPP II), describing the project as a major step toward strengthening the country’s energy security.
The GPP II is envisioned as a transformative national infrastructure initiative aimed at boosting domestic energy capacity, enhancing industrial output, and positioning Ghana as a regional gas processing hub.
The project is designed to expand Ghana’s gas processing capacity beyond the current 120 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) currently handled at the Atuabo facility. With increasing demand from power generation and industrial users, the initiative is also expected to help address the estimated 151 million US dollars lost annually from unprocessed natural gas liquids.
With the country’s annual cost of liquid fuel exceeding one billion US dollars, a situation described as unsustainable, it has been argued that channeling about half of that amount into constructing the second gas processing plant could save the nation approximately 500 million dollars each year.
During a familiarisation visit to the Atuabo Gas Processing Plant, Executive Secretary of the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC), Duncan Amoah, called for swift implementation of the project, stressing that its benefits are far-reaching and should not be delayed:
“you would need the train two or the GPP II, to come on stream so that it can add a lot more. I will be happy that we become LPG self reliant, that we don’t even have to import LPG at all if you’re able to finish the train two, chances are that you can take over the 100% market. What that would also mean to the power sector is that you would have a lot more for the thermal generation.”
“We are pleading that whatever support the authorities or government would provide to expedite the coming on stream of the train two, we want to see it done within the next 12, maximum 24 months, because the longer you delay, you are just throwing away money” he added.
The Head of Corporate Communications at Ghana National Gas Company, Richard Kirk Mensah, explained that the visit by the civil society organisations to the company’s operational sites was to give them first-hand insight into its activities, while also leveraging their expertise to help engineer the company’s progress.
“They may have fair idea of how Ghana gas operates but if they come and see things and have firsthand information, their conversation and their narratives about the operations of Ghana gas will definitely change. So when we sit down we will jaw jaw put a lifeline to what Ghana gas wants to achieve”, he said.
Meanwhile, Albert Mensah Tandoh of the Operations Department at Ghana Gas emphasised the readiness of wholly Ghanaian manpower to bring GPP II on stream once government gives approval.
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“We have the experience; we’ve been involved in some of the technical decisions that have been made. We do have the land, we have the expertise here. We have the knowledge. We have the facilities to be able to expand it and also have greater local imprints on the next plant, and we believe that with the second plant being here, it will be best for Ghana, we can run the plant in parallel with that of the second plant as well, using the local expertise that we have garnered here”, he emphasised.
In May 2025, the Minister for Energy and Green Transition, in conjunction with the Ministry of Finance, inaugurated an implementation committee to oversee the construction of the second gas processing plant. However, the project’s realisation still hangs in the balance, with no clear timeline announced.
Source: Starrfm.com.gh
