FG targets 2,000 new CNG facilities nationwide

By Obas Esiedesa, Abuja The Federal Government has announced plans to deploy about 2,000 additional Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) infrastructure units across the country to accelerate adoption of the alternative fuel and reduce transportation costs. Executive Chairman of the Presidential Initiative on Compressed Natural Gas and Electric Vehicles (PI-CNG/EV), Ismaeel Ahmed, disclosed this on Friday shortly after the commissioning of a Rolling Energy CNG refuelling station for the State House in Karu, Abuja.

Ahmed said Nigeria currently had about 160 operational CNG refuelling stations, while another 170 were at various stages of development or awaiting approval from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA). He said the programme had moved beyond the proof-of-concept stage, with private investors committing about $2.6 billion to the development of CNG infrastructure.

According to him, President Bola Tinubu has directed a fresh round of infrastructure expansion involving 1,500 units in February and another 500 in August through the Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund (MDGIF). He said the additional facilities were expected to become operational between this year and early next year. “This is almost our 106th station across the country in less than two years.

This is not beginning any longer. The market has been proven,” Ahmed said. He noted that Nigeria, with an estimated population of 220 million and about 12 million vehicles, needed to accelerate the deployment of refuelling facilities to meet growing demand. On the impact of CNG adoption on transportation costs, Ahmed said fares had dropped by between 30 and 40 per cent on routes where CNG-powered buses operate.

He cited the Kano-Katsina route, where passengers who previously paid between N3,000 and N4,000 could now travel for about N1,500 using CNG-powered buses. “It has significantly reduced about 30 to 40 per cent of transportation fees in the routes where CNG buses are ferrying,” he said. The PI-CNG/EV chairman, however, acknowledged that existing facilities were inadequate to meet national demand, adding that the government was working to extend CNG-powered transportation to more commercial routes and underserved communities.

Also speaking, the Permanent Secretary, State House, Temitope Peter Fashedemi, said the commissioning of the facility demonstrated the Federal Government’s commitment to leading by example in adopting CNG as an alternative to petrol. He said the initiative had become particularly important following the removal of petrol subsidy, which increased transportation costs and made cheaper alternative fuels imperative.

Fashedemi explained that the State House partnered with Rolling Energy to rehabilitate an abandoned petrol station in Karu and convert it into a CNG refuelling and vehicle conversion facility. He said the State House provided the facility, while the private sector partner handled its rehabilitation and installation without any financial contribution from the government.

“State House hasn’t spent any naira in this place, but we made this place available for this purpose and they have renovated it to the extent that you have seen,” he said. He disclosed that about 10 recently acquired JAC vehicles in the State House were hybrid vehicles, while some buses used for shuttle services within the Presidential Villa also operated on hybrid technology.

According to him, arrangements were underway for interested State House staff to convert eligible vehicles to CNG-powered hybrid vehicles in the coming weeks. In his remarks, the Chief Executive Officer of Rolling Energy, Mubarak Danbatta, said the newly commissioned facility was an integrated CNG refuelling station capable of dispensing gas to about 150 vehicles daily, depending on cylinder capacity and pressure.

He added that its vehicle conversion centre could handle approximately 12 vehicles daily. Danbatta described the project as an example of an effective public-private partnership, noting that the State House provided the abandoned facility while Rolling Energy undertook its rehabilitation and installation. He said the company currently operated facilities in Ilorin and Abuja and was preparing to commission two additional stations in Kano and two in Kaduna.

“We are targeting that by the end of the year, we will have close to 15 facilities nationwide,” he said.