The federal government has commissioned three Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) facilities in Kano State to expand access to cheaper vehicle fuel and reduce transportation costs.
The facilities, developed by Rolling Energy Limited with support from the Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund (MDGIF), comprise a 300,000-standard-cubic-metre-per-day Liquefied Compressed Natural Gas (LCNG) mother station and a retail outlet at Tamburawa, Dawakin Kudu Local Government Area, as well as a 21,000-standard-cubic-metre-per-day daughter and retail station at Hotoro, Tarauni Local Government Area.
Speaking at the commissioning ceremony on Tuesday, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, said the projects would deepen gas penetration, support businesses, stimulate economic activities and create employment opportunities.
Ekpo said the facilities demonstrated the Federal Government’s determination to translate Nigeria’s abundant gas resources into affordable energy for households, industries and the transportation sector.
He added that the projects aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which seeks to move the country’s gas resources beyond policy statements to practical infrastructure capable of improving Nigerians’ living conditions.
Also speaking, the Executive Chairman of the Presidential Initiative on Compressed Natural Gas and Electric Vehicles, Ismaeel Ahmed, represented by his Special Adviser on Technical Training and Capacity Building, Omoh Imoukhuede, said expanding vehicle conversion to CNG must go hand in hand with accessible refuelling infrastructure.
He said Kano’s large transport economy and commercial activities made the state critical to the country’s transition to cleaner and more affordable energy.
Ahmed assured that the Federal Government would continue supporting investments to make CNG accessible, affordable and safe.
The Executive Director of the MDGIF, Oluwole Adama, said the two connected stations could collectively refuel up to 2,500 cars and tricycles daily and supply gas to about 200 trucks.
Adama said while a litre of petrol sold for about N1,420 in Kano, the equivalent energy from CNG cost approximately N600.
He explained that a tricycle operator spending N14,200 daily on 10 litres of petrol could spend about N6,000 on CNG, saving N8,200 daily and nearly N250,000 monthly.
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He added that the fund had partnered with Rolling Energy to deliver 18 retail gas infrastructure facilities across three states and the Federal Capital Territory.
Earlier, the founder of Rolling Energy Limited, Mubarak Umar Danbatta, said the projects reflected his company’s commitment to bringing cleaner and cheaper energy closer to Nigerians, particularly in northern Nigeria.
He disclosed that the Tamburawa facility had two LNG storage tanks with a combined capacity of 110 metric tonnes, while the Hotoro station had a storage capacity of eight metric tonnes.
The Kano State Governor, Abba Yusuf, represented by the Commissioner for Energy, Gaddafi Shehu, pledged the state’s continued support for investments in alternative energy, citing Kano’s large population and commercial activities as reasons for expanding gas infrastructure.
