FG Says 160 CNG Stations Operational, Plans 500 More

The Federal Government has announced plans to expand the country's Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) infrastructure with 500 additional refuelling stations, as part of efforts to accelerate the adoption of alternative fuel and reduce transport costs.

The Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Presidential Initiative on Compressed Natural Gas and Electric Vehicles, Ismaeel Ahmed, disclosed this on Friday at the inauguration of a CNG Integrated Refuelling Unit in Karu, Abuja.

Ahmed said another 170 facilities were at various stages of development or awaiting regulatory approval from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority.

He added that private investors had committed approximately $2.6bn to developing CNG infrastructure across the country, indicating growing confidence in the market.

According to him, President Bola Tinubu has directed the deployment of another 500 infrastructure units through the Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund to accelerate the expansion of refuelling facilities.

Ahmed described the country's CNG market as having moved beyond the experimental stage, noting that the priority was now to increase the scale and speed of infrastructure development to serve Nigeria's large population and vehicle market.

He called on more private investors to participate in the initiative, stressing that wider availability of refuelling stations would improve access to alternative fuel and support the country's transportation needs.

The Pi-CNG chairman also disclosed that the adoption of CNG-powered buses had reduced transport fares by between 30 and 40 per cent on some routes in Abuja, Lagos and Kano, including the Kano-Katsina route.

Speaking at the inauguration, the Permanent Secretary, State House, Temitope Fashedemi, said the new facility demonstrated the government's commitment to promoting CNG adoption through partnerships with private investors.

He explained that the station was established by converting an abandoned petrol dispensing facility belonging to the State House into a CNG refuelling and vehicle conversion centre.

According to Fashedemi, the State House provided the existing infrastructure, while Rolling Energy funded its rehabilitation and installation of the required equipment without government expenditure.

The Chief Executive Officer of Rolling Energy, Mubarak Danbatta, said the project demonstrated how collaboration between government institutions and private businesses could accelerate the development of alternative fuel infrastructure.