Ghana Gas has explained that the recent shutdown of its Atuabo Gas Processing Plant was an emergency technical measure taken to prevent a major operational breakdown after a critical control system failed.
Officials of the company told the Parliamentary Select Committee on Energy and Petroleum during a working visit to the facility that the temporary shutdown became necessary after a Central Processing Unit (CPU), which controls the plant’s automated operations, malfunctioned following power fluctuations on April 14.
Head of Engineer and Maintenance at Ghana Gas, Ingineer Maxwell Kwamei Kally, said the incident caused the plant’s control software to crash, making it impossible and unsafe for operations to continue in automatic mode.
“We had a failure of our CPU, which is a control panel unit. We lost the software to that control unit, so the plant came down as a result,” he explained.According to him, Engineers immediately activated emergency response procedures and switched the facility from automatic to manual mode, enabling operations to resume after about six hours.
He added that a second brief shutdown was later required to install a replacement CPU, restore the software system and conduct tests before the plant could safely return to full automatic operations.
Mr Kally stressed that such shutdowns are standard engineering interventions designed to protect equipment, maintain safety and ensure long-term reliability of the plant.“As I speak to you, the plant is fully operational,” he assured the committee”.
He disclosed that Ghana Gas is currently processing 115 million standard cubic feet of gas per day, based on volumes supplied by upstream producers, although the facility has the capacity to process 140 million standard cubic feet daily.
Addressing concerns over reports that the plant had remained offline, Ingineer Kally explained that some downstream users often judge operations by when gas reaches their end, rather than when processing resumes at Atuabo.
“When the plant is running, they want to see the gas at the endpoint, and any delay creates the impression that the plant is still down,” he said.
The explanation came after members of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Energy and Petroleum visited the facility to seek clarity over the disruption, which raised public concerns about gas supply to thermal power plants.
Chairman of the Committee, Emmanuel Kwesi Bedzra, said Parliament was dissatisfied with reports surrounding the incident and wanted a full understanding of what transpired.
“We’re worried about what happened last week and the report that came out. We are not too happy, so we’ll delve into the matter and know whether there’s a major problem at Ghana Gas,” he stated.
The committee’s visit forms part of Parliament’s oversight responsibility to ensure Ghana’s critical gas infrastructure remains efficient and capable of supporting uninterrupted power generation and industrial activity.
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