The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has partnered FEMADEC Energy Limited to provide Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) powered vehicles to 20 universities in Nigeria, in an effort to help cut down high transportation costs in schools.
Speaking at the signing ceremony in Abuja on Tuesday, Farouk Ahmed, the authority’s chief executive said that the NMDPRA will provide the enabling environment for the project, in line with the Federal Government‘s aspirations to adopt gas as the transition fuel.
For Mansur Kuliya, the executive director, Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund (MDGIF), the program is in line with the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (PCNGI).
According to Kuliya, the signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Femadec will accelerate the deployment of compressed Natural Gas (CNG) infrastructure as a special palliative to lessen transportation cost for tertiary institutions and to introduce clean energy towards net zero agenda.
” MDGIF was established by section 52 of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 (PIA) as a Federal corporate body to manage funds and provide equity investments for government infrastructure related to midstream and downstream gas operations to increase the domestic consumption of natural gas, encouraging private investments in midstream and downstream gas projects and reducing gas flaring in Nigeria.”
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In his remark, Fola Akinnola, chief executive officer of FEMADEC Energy Limited, said that the arrangements will cover the provision of relevant CNG infrastructure, including the setting up of autogas conversion centres.
According to him, the recent subsidy removal in the country has necessitated the need to focus on gas as against fossil fuel use.
“Femadec proposed and agreed with the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative on a strategy that involves adopting CNG-fuelled vehicles.
“The objective is to lessen the transportation costs for the students and lecturers, on the one hand, reduce carbon emissions to meet the federal government net zero emissions target, and bring awareness to students in terms of gas technology and its various uses,” he said.
According to him, the project would target 20 Universities in the initial phase, each to be provided with 10 CNG-fuelled buses, CNG or LCNG refuelling units and storage, a gas generator, and a conversion center.
