CNG Vehicle Conversions Reach 143,000, Amid $2.6bn Private Investment, 105 Stations in Q3: PICNG & EV

The Presidential Initiative on Compressed Natural Gas and Electric Vehicles (PICNG & EV) has said more than 143,000 vehicles in Nigeria now run on CNG, backed by $2.6 billion in private sector investment and 105 refuelling stations.

The executive chairman of the initiative, Barr. Ismael Ahmed, disclosed the investment and station figures at the National CNG Summit held on Tuesday in Abuja.

“We have been able to build 105 stations, along with partners,” Ahmed said. “We have catalysed private sector investments worth $2.6 billion.”

He said the initiative had created a market that did not exist three years ago, although it had not yet reached where it should be.

“Is it where we want it to be? No. But are we where we were? Absolutely not,” he said.

Ahmed said government had to invest directly because private investors only go where profit is assured.

“The private sector will only go where the market is,” he said.

He said the initiative bought buses, converted existing vehicles and acquired modular refuelling units (MRUs) to stimulate demand. Government also had to calm public fears about the safety of cylinders and conversions, he said, adding that cynicism had set in at some point.

Ahmed said Nigerians who had converted their vehicles were now looking for fuel supply, and that supply infrastructure is heavy and costly.

He said gas cannot be handled like petrol, which can be hauled over long distances and stored for months. “Gas is more like air,” he said.

According to him, every station needs a source of gas, a compression point, tube skids, transport to the station by truck as a virtual pipeline or through a physical pipeline in the South, and a dispensing point. “These things are not cheap,” he said.

He said government would do most of the heavy lifting on supply infrastructure, while private investors had to be convinced that the market was stable.

The chief operating officer of PICNG & EV, Tosin Coker, gave the conversion figures during a panel discussion on CNG adoption. He said they were recorded at the end of the third quarter.

“We recorded over 143,000 vehicles operating on CNG at the end of last quarter,” Coker said. “We have increased our station count to 105, with many more at various stages of completion or licensing.”

He said the number of conversion centres had also risen to 430 nationwide.

“Our conversion centre count is now 430 nationwide,” he said. “It is a good leap, and it shows that CNG is becoming widely acceptable.”

Coker said the cost depends on the type of vehicle and the cylinder installed. Converting a tricycle costs between N300,000 and N350,000, while a regular four-cylinder saloon car costs about N450,000 to N500,000 under the government-certified programme.

“People want bigger cylinders or fibre cylinders, which are lighter,” he said. “All these can increase the cost.”

He said the initiative was working with banks and conversion partners to make payment easier.

“We understand that not everybody has N500,000 or N700,000 to pay at once,” he said. “We are working with financial operators to make conversion affordable through spread payments.”

Coker said Nigeria must produce more CNG components at home as the programme grows.

“We cannot do one million conversions and import every component,” he said. “We have to assemble conversion kits, cylinders and vehicles in Nigeria.”

He said local production would create jobs, build technical skills and reduce the cost of the programme.

Other participants at the event said financing remained one of the biggest challenges. They urged commercial banks to offer cheaper loans for conversions and infrastructure. Retailers asked for incentives to help more stations install CNG facilities.

Coker said the numbers would keep rising as more partners joined the programme.

“We are a long way from where we were when these targets were set,” he said. “By the end of this year and into next year, the numbers will be very impressive.”