By Adedapo Adesanya
In line with Nigeria’s pursuit of powering cars with gas and providing alternative fuels, Nipco Plc says it is working to achieve the target with the presence of 14 CNG filling stations in various states across the country and another six Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) stations, currently under construction.
The President Muhammadu Buhari administration has, over the years, promised to provide an alternative for the high-cost Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol to all Nigerians.
Due to the sharp increase in the pump price of petroleum products, the federal government announced plans to adjust vehicles and power generating plants for gas fuelling free of charge in October 2020.
Speaking recently at a facility tour, Mr Nagendra Verma, Managing Director, NIPCO Gas, said that over 7,000 vehicles were currently running on CNG, adding that over 350 truck fleets belonging to NIPCO were all on gas.
“We have workshops which are fully efficient and fully capable of converting PMS vehicles to gas, we have the expertise, and we are ready to convert more vehicles to run on gas,” he said.
Mr Verma said: “So, we intend to have CNG stations in almost all the states of Nigeria, wherever the pipeline is available.
“Presently, we are laying Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) pipeline for 80 Kilometer pipeline from Shagamu interchange to Ibadan.
“The pipeline work is going on. We expect to commission the first phase by the end of December 2023.
“And the entire pipeline is expected to be completed by next year.”
According to him, the company is also developing gas pipeline infrastructure in Lekki Free Trade Zone in Lagos, which is currently nearing completion.
He said the company is currently constructing a propane tank of 500 metric tonnes capacity, the biggest in Nigeria, in a bid to meet up with the federal government requirements of mixing a certain quantity of propane with butane for domestic gas.
Mr Verma said that the propane tank would be completed in the next three months.
Modupe Gbadeyanka