The Federal Government on Thursday commissioned a 5.2 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) capacity Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)p2 lant in Lagos.
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, who commissioned the plant at the Isolo Industrial Area, Ilasamaja in Lagos said this was part of the continued efforts by the government to provide alternative source of fuel for Nigerians and reduce the impact of subsidy removal on petrol on the people.
The commissioning under the theme “From Gas to Prosperity: CNG for All”, the Minister said, represents a critical turning point in the development of affordable, sustainable, and secure energy sources in the country.
The Minister described 2024 as a historic year for Nigerians, as the courageous decision by the present administration to eliminate fuel subsidies has inspired them to promote the acceptability
and broader use of the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), bringing several fresh beginnings in the lives of Nigerians.
“Although the removal of subsidy on the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly called petrol, has brought difficulties on the lives of the people, it has also given the people a once-in-a-lifetime chance to invent and adopt more economical, efficient, and sustainable energy alternatives,” the Minister stated.
The use of CNG as a transport fuel, Ekpo pointed out, was a mature technology used globally as the cleanest burning fuel, in terms of Nitro-oxide and soot emissions.
“While it can be employed to power passenger cars and city buses, CNG passenger vehicles emit 5-10% less CO2 than comparable gasoline powered passenger vehicles”,tAbuja he Minister added.
Earlier in his remarks, the Group CEO of NNPC Limited, Mele Kyari, said to maintained energy security and provide more access to CNG by the Nigerian populace, the NNPC has reached a Final Investment Decision (FID) with Axxela Limited to deliver Six additional CNG mother and service stations plants and stations of 5.2mmscfd capacity each, insThe selected locations spread across the six geopolitical zones, including the FCT to ease access to bulk CNG.
Kyari said the move was in addition to NNPC Retail’s phased deployment of CNG in over 100 stations across the country as well as other Joint Venture partnerships on CNG.
In particular, Kyari revealed that the commissioning of the NNPC CNG Station in Ilasamaja Lagos was part of NNPC’s efforts to grow domestic gas supply and utilization by deploying gas infrastructure nationwide.
He said the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) explicitly mandated NNPC to promote domestic gas utilisation, thereby strengthening the company’s resolve to deploy critical gas infrastructure projects across the country.
“NNPC will continue to deliver more strategic projects for the benefit of our country. We shall utilise our gas resources for industrialisation, power generation and economic prosperity for all,” Kyari stated.
In his speech, the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu said the establishment of the CNG plant aligned perfectly with his vision for economic development, job creation and industrialisation in the State.
He said in demonstration of its resolve to champion CNG utilisation across Lagos State, the State Government has concluded plans to deploy 2,500 conversion kits and over 2,000 new CNG buses, which would commence operations before the end of the year.
The Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, represented by the State Commissioner of Environment, Ola Oresanya, said the State was supporting capacity building in CNG conversion to ensure sustainability and promote economic development within the State and beyond.
In his goodwill message, the Chief Executive, Presidential CNG Initiative, Engineer Michael Oluwagbemi described the plant commissioning as a testament to President Tinubu’s commitment to providing sustainable energy solutions for Nigerians.
The CEO of Axxela, Bolaji Osunsanya thanked all the stakeholders, especially the NNPC, for its consistent vision towards the delivery of the plant, stressing that his company’s many years of preparation have now met a golden opportunity to deliver cleaner, cheaper energy to Nigerians.
The NNPC CNG Station Ilasamaja has the capacity to serve vehicles and also supply gas to industries and other companies. The facility has dispensing points for filling cars, buses, trucks and tricycles, utilizing CNG and can fill about 3,700 cars or 600 trucks/buses every day thereby providing a constant supply of CNG.
The state-of- the art CNG plant was built through a partnership between NNPC Gas Marketing Limited (NGML) and Transit Gas Nigeria Limited (An Axxela Company).