Ecow-Gas, the Netherland-based energy infrastructure development company, an affiliate of Tema Liquefied Natural Gas Terminal Company (TLTC), has been awarded a contract to build LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) storage and regasification in Burkina Faso.

This ties in with the company’s move to expand its presence in the West Africa region and adds to the list of LNG contracts in the pipeline after completing the soon-to-be commissioned facility in Ghana.

With construction of the Tema terminal now complete, the first LNG cargo into Tema is expected in the coming weeks, S&P Global Platts learnt from sources.

The Tema LNG terminal is expected to create an LNG hub with a storage capacity in excess of 180,000 cubic metres to serve the regional market.

The company has already won exclusive rights to build and operate storage and regasification facilities in Liberia and Sierra Leone. Thus, with the Tema LNG terminal acting as a regional hub, small-scale LNG will be shipped into these countries by reloading from the Tema facility.

This places the Tema LNG terminal at a better spot for small-scale LNG supplies in the region as the terminal can reload any amount of LNG from 7,000 cubic metres to 30,000 cubic metres, ensuring that supply to smaller regional markets can be flexible to their demand.

Ecow-Gas has said that by sourcing fuel from Tema, it aims to introduce a reliable supply of LNG into the West African energy mix. “Burkina Faso now joins Sierra Leone and Liberia as the latest part of Ecow-Gas’ regional infrastructure network.”

Burkina Faso’s LNG Demand

In the West African market, the required capacity of LNG is estimated at some 1 million metric tonnes per year for power generation and displacement of distillates in the region’s extractives industry.

This is expected to grow to about 1.8 million metric tonnes per year over the next decade as countries in the region gradually move away from heavier fuels for cleaner ones.

For Burkina Faso, existing gas demand is estimated at around 25 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d), and is likely to double in the next four years.

The country’s market is dominated by the supply of gas to gas-powered stations operated by the state-owned electricity company, Sonabel. Also, large private sector industrial users such as mine operators and electricity generators use more of gas for their operations.

Burkina Faso’s energy minister Bachir Ismael Ouedraogo said the supply of LNG would benefit industry and communities.

“LNG’s introduction to our country is in line with our government’s priorities to provide a platform to continue our energy transition towards a cleaner future while committing to sustainable economic growth.”
Bachir Ismael Ouedraogo, Energy Minister, Burkina Faso

As a land-locked country, Burkina Faso could transport LNG from the Tema facility by truck, given that the Tema facility has the ability to load LNG directly onto trucks, S&P Global said.

Meanwhile, the operation of the Tema LNG facility tends to remove the barrier of spending large amounts of capital expenditure and credit costs to introduce LNG into new countries, S&P Global Platts said.