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CNG investments hit $980m – PCNGI boss

The Nigerian government has announced that the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) sector has attracted a staggering $980 million in investments within the last 18 months.
The significant milestone was disclosed by Michael Oluwagbemi, Programme Director of the Presidential CNG Initiative (PCNGI), during the launch of the NASENI-Portland CNG daughter station, auto conversion, and training centre on Wednesday in Abuja.
Oluwagbemi also said that the number of vehicles so far converted has risen from about 4,000 to 100,000, highlighting that over N720 billion has been invested by private sector players in acquiring CNG trucks and building daughter stations.
According to him, the PCNGI has deliberately worked with the industry to roll out conversion incentives for adoption, including provision of conversion kits for transport unions, with up to about 90 per cent discount.
He noted that response from the public has been rapid, saying that industries such as Bua, Nigerian Bottling Company, among others, have more recently invested around N720 billion to acquire not just CNG trucks, but also in daughter stations.
“We used to have just seven conversion centres in Nigeria. I’m going to report to you that just 18 months later, actually 12 months of implementation, since we started implementation in May of last year, we now have well over 315 conversion centres across the country.
“From just five states that have CNG ability to dispense CNG fuel, and the ability to convert, and of course ability to train and to enable manpower.
”We’re now able to increase that number to 20. We are on track before the end of the year to have at least 30 of Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to have CNG capacity,” Oluwagbemi said.
Highlighting the need for collaboration in the industry, he thanked NASENI-Portland for raising the bar in terms of partnership in the CNG segment of the energy sector.
“I’m pleased to report to you that just 18 months later, we’ve tracked over $980 million worth of investments in the CNG sector.
”This easily is the fastest growing sector in the country today, and continues to grow in leaps and bounds. Our last mandate was to regulate and to work with regulators for growth.
“This mandate is very critical, because without clear regulations in and out of the industry, it’s going to be impossible for both investors as well as participants to do so, to engage,” he emphasised.
Portland Gas and NASENI Partnership Champions Nigeria’s Clean Energy Future with Expanded CNG Facilities
The Chief Executive of Portland Gas, Folajimi Mohammed, said that with the ongoing CNG transformation, Nigeria was set to lead the future in terms of clean energy, noting that beyond commissioning the facility, the partnership was also about nurturing a vision.
“It is a vision of a Nigeria with cleaner energy, where transport operators enjoy lower costs of fuelling, where our environment is cleaner and we breathe easier, where the promise of sustainable goals is not an aspiration but a reality.
“This CNG autogas station with NASENI-Portland stands as a bold declaration that Nigeria is ready, capable and determined to lead the cleaner energy future. It is the product of innovation, persistence and resilience and an overall partnership.
“Our collaboration with NASENI is a testament that everything is possible when the public and private come together.
”NASENI has shown itself to be a pioneer, not content to simply oversee projects, but determined to create it. By embracing collaboration, they have proven that development in Nigeria can be both rapid and responsive,” the Portland Gas CEO saud.
While thanking all the partners and regulators present at the event, he noted that with their collaboration, there has been a fostering of local manufacturing, while vehicle conversion programmes have ensured that Nigeria automotive industry is growing at a pace that will almost eventually surpass as one of Africa’s growing sectors.
Also speaking, the National President of the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), Yusuf Othman, said that the association had fully bought into the federal government’s CNG programme.
 “We are very happy. Prior to this commissioning, we have had some CNG stations.
”A lot of our vehicles go and fuel for a long time. We lose a lot of time and we lose a lot of money buying that fuel.
”And sometimes even when we fill the tanks, we don’t necessarily fill the tank with gas, in fact we fill them with air.
“There is not enough pressure. So this project by Portland Gas will help us to reduce the amount of time or money we are losing. So we are quite happy to be in this project.
” Apart from giving us conversion kits free of charge to all the states of the country, we have collected 20 CNG buses, and we are running the presidential initiative across the country.
“We have collected five 50-seater buses from the presidential initiative of CNG. We are running across the town.
”So this is one of our routes to help us in fuelling. And I understand we are going to collect five more buses”, he stated, noting that the initiative has reduced transportation costs by 30 per cent.
On his part, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, represented by Mascot Ikwechegh commended the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) for promoting affordable and cleaner energy solutions through the establishment of the centre.
While urging Nigerians to embrace the energy transition process, Abbas emphasised that such change takes time but is essential.
He cited examples from Argentina, Pakistan, and Iran countries that have successfully converted millions of vehicles to CNG, he stressed Nigeria’s potential to lead Africa in CNG adoption.
Delivering a goodwill message on behalf of the Special Guest of Honour, the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, represented by the Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Olu Verheijen said, “The NASENI–Portland partnership is a clear example of how the private sector plays a vital role in driving our nation’s economic growth and development.
“Our role as government is to act as a catalyst, unlocking private sector expertise and capital to deliver meaningful results for the Nigerian people.”
The Executive Vice Chairman/CEO, NASENI, Mr. Khalil Suleiman Halilu, in his welcome address said the facility was part of ongoing commitment to the Renewed Hope Agenda of the President for a diversified, sustainable, and industrially vibrant economy.
“Our plan is ambitious: to replicate these facilities across all 36 states and the FCT, making it possible to convert every vehicle in Nigeria to CNG in the coming years.
”This daughter station represents our commitment to bringing CNG technology closer to the people, breaking monopolies to improve service quality and affordability; and reducing bottlenecks and long queues for CNG users,” he said.
Director General, National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), Mr. Oluwemimo Osanipin, who was the guest of honour, praised NASENI for the initiative to ensure affordable cost of energy for transportation and called on other government agencies to support NASENI.

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