FG’s CNG Conversion Centres Exceed 170 Nationwide, Govt Targets 500 by 2025

•Portland Gas launches new Abuja branch

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

The federal government through the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (PCNGI) yesterday disclosed that vehicle conversion centres in the country have now exceeded 170, with a target of 500 centres in 2025.

Speaking on the sidelines of the inauguration of a new conversion centre by Portland Gas in Kado, Abuja, the National Coordinator and Chief Executive of the  PCNGI, Michael Oluwagbemi, said the government intends to raise the number to 200 by the end of this year.

He stated that so far, the government has not spent a kobo in building the conversion centres spread nationwide, explaining that all the investments are a product of public and private collaboration.

According to Oluwagbemi, the number one success factor of the programme in the last one year has been the entry of the private sector, and the partnership of the public sector to ramp up the penetration of CNG in the country.

At the start of the year, he stated that the conversion centres were just seven, but have now increased to over 170, with not a single one of them built by the federal government. He added that over 1,000 technicians have already been trained this year.

Oluwagbemi also assured of the safety of CNG-powered vehicles, stressing that they remain even safer and more efficient than cars that use petrol and other fuels.

“Before the end of this year, I promise in the next two weeks, we will get to 200 centres. We are already looking for and certifying at least an additional 35 to 40 on our record. I believe we will get to 40 at the end of this year. And that is double our target.  You remember this time last year, I told you our target was 100 and now 200.

“Next year, we have set a target of 500 for us and I believe we will meet it. We went from seven conversion centres to what we have now. Easily, I would say we are around 170. So today, from seven to 170, there is not a single one of those that were built by the Federal Government of Nigeria,” he explained.

Also speaking, the Chief Executive of Portland Gas, Folajimi Mohammed, reiterated the plan of the company to ensure that the building of conversion centres is accelerated nationwide, revealing that it takes roughly one hour to convert one vehicle.

On the durability of the gas tubes, he put it at 20, advising Nigerians to only patronise standard conversion centres to avoid the dangers associated with the use of inferior materials for reconstruction of the vehicles to enable CNG use.

He said: “What we have here is a full state-of-the-art conversion center, where we have been able to segment different parts of the conversions from the mechanical part of it to the electrical and then the calibration. And of course, the calibration can be done without gas.

“So what we do here is a turnkey solution, where from the conversion part of it, you can make sure that you leave here within an hour or thereabouts, and you have a fully converted CNG car. And when I mean fully converted CNG car, I mean, it’s still a hybrid. You can have the option to switch from petrol to gas where you want to.”

On the safety of the CNG vehicles, he said that although there had been one or two reported incidents, they were generally blamed on substandard materials used by persons who attempted to cut corners.

“Now, the content of this gas is methane. And methane, as we know, is CH4. It’s lighter than air. So in the event of any collision, it disperses into the thin and dissipates. Every tank has an average of about 20 years. The oldest of our tanks that we have here were just made last year. So it still has a good duration of 19 years to go,” he added.

He pointed out that carrying out hybrid conversion was more advisable since the CNG infrastructure is still limited in the country, which will allow vehicle owners to switch to petrol anytime the need arises.

Also speaking, the Executive Vice Chairman of the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), Khalil Halilu,  stressed that with the partnership, the government was providing policy guidance, infrastructure, and protection of intellectual property for investors.