The West African Gas Pipeline Company Limited (WAPCo) will temporarily suspend natural gas transportation from Nigeria to Togo and Benin for five days, from Aug. 28 to Sept. 1, to undertake maintenance and modernization work on the West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP).
In a statement issued on Aug. 21, WAPCo said the planned work forms part of efforts to maintain the integrity of the pipeline, enhance its reliability and upgrade key infrastructure.
In Togo, the maintenance will involve replacing a subsea valve on the Lomé lateral and conducting an inspection of the pipeline.
Work in Benin will include an internal inspection of the Cotonou lateral and activities to connect WAPCo’s network with BGTS.
Meanwhile, in Nigeria, WAPCo will replace valves at Itoki and the Lagos Beach Compressor Station. The company will also install the NGIC metering system at the Itoki facility.
The maintenance programme will temporarily interrupt the transportation of gas from Nigeria through the regional pipeline network.
The disruption could place additional pressure on Togo’s electricity system, as part of the country’s power generation depends on gas supplied through the WAGP. Togo has already experienced several electricity supply disruptions this year, including outages associated with maintenance work at thermal power plants.
WAPCo said Ghana would continue to receive gas through the western section of the pipeline to Tema, although the country’s overall gas supply would be reduced during the maintenance period.
The WAGP, which connects Nigeria to Benin, Togo and Ghana, is regarded by WAPCo as the first regional natural gas transmission network in sub-Saharan Africa.
WAPCo said the maintenance and upgrade programme is intended to strengthen the safety, reliability and resilience of the pipeline infrastructure, which remains important to gas supply and power generation across the region.