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106 CNG Stations Now Operational, Pi-CNG Says
The Executive Chairman of the Presidential Initiative on Compressed Natural Gas and Electric Vehicles (Pi-CNG & EV), Barr. Ismaeel Ahmed, has stated that 106 CNG stations now exist in the country as the federal government is scaling up the stations across the country to reduce cost of transportation.
Speaking during the commissioning of a CNG Integrated Refueling Unit (IRU) Station by Pi-CNG & EV and Rolling Energy, in Karu, Ahmed said 170 stations are in different stages of development or waiting for different licences from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
He added that investors are trooping into the sector as $2.6 billion worth of private investment has come in, adding that while most of the stations are privately-owned, the government is intervening with policies that will make their construction easy.
He stated that it took Nigeria 60 years to get to 24,000 PMS stations but the rate of construction of CNG stations makes the country the fastest adoption rate for CNG and electric vehicles.
“We are moving at a scale that is very impressive. The work is in progress and a lot of entrepreneurs are seeing the need for this and they are coming in and we’re calling them to come in and invest more,” he said.
He added that the route where CNG buses are plying has led to reduction in transport fare but he said there is the need to do more in providing additional buses for fares to crash.
On his part, the State House Permanent Secretary, Temitope Fashedemi, said the use of CNG will help to reduce the burden of increasing the price of petrol.
He added that Nigerians will soon see the availability of the product when more investors build new stations and the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano pipeline is completed.
“The stations will reduce the pressure in other places that we’re going to, and they can come here and refuel at any time, and even convert. And hopefully this will also be a clarion call for persons with the capacity to also set up things like this for the benefit of the citizens.”
The Chairman and Founder of Rolling Energy, Mubarak Umar Danbatta, said the station will help the government achieve its goals in ensuring Energy security in the country.
