In order to tap into Nigeria’s huge gas reserves, OMAA, an indigenous energy firm has unveiled the country’s first locally assembled natural gas-powered buses along with generators that would run on gas.
Chinedu Oguegbu, the company’s founder said the company was committed to maximising Nigeria’s gas potential by scaling the manufacturing of factory-fitted dual-fuel vehicles to meet the growing demand for vehicles that run on cleaner energy sources within Nigeria and across Africa.
With 206.53 Trillion Cubic Feet (TCF) of proven gas reserves, Nigeria has some of the highest gas reserves on the African continent but much of the gas produced in Nigeria is exported.
Companies like OMAA are seeking to change this situation and consider government support especially in terms of providing single-digit interest loans or intervention funding for the sector, and encouraging consumer financing initiatives to buy locally-assembled gas vehicles would help turn the ‘Decade of Gas’ declaration into reality.
At the recent Nigeria International Petroleum Summit (NIPS), in Abuja, Oguegbu said that the company was starting up with energy mobility which are vehicles that run on compressed natural gas as well as generators powered by gas. It will eventually move into the power generation business to harness the vast potentials in the nation’s economy.
“Nigeria is in the top ten of gas producers in the world and this gas discovery is actually incidental while digging for crude. When we decide to fully harness our gas resource, we can power Nigeria with cleaner, safer and more environmentally-friendly compressed natural gas”, Oguegbu stated.
OMAA CEO said that the company’s foray into gas-powered vehicles is the beginning of a trend that will revolutionize not just the transportation industry, but the energy industry in Nigeria, by accelerating utilisation of the abundant natural gas resources we are endowed with.
Read Also: Pakistan, Egypt, others offer lessons on switching to gas vehicles
“This is Nigeria’s transition now to a gas-powered economy and OMAA’s goal is to drive this and accelerate it. We have our products on display ranging from generators including the ones that are already using petrol.
OMAA’s vision is to lead the transformation of the transportation and energy industry in Nigeria and in Africa, by accelerating the utilisation of the abundant natural gas resources the country is endowed with.
“We construct buses that are rugged, customizable and adapted to Nigerian roads, as well as gas-powered solutions to foster sustainable energy usage in homes and commercial buildings”
“We have conversion kits that can make you now switch to using LPG which is safer and commercially viable. So, you save money when you switch to gas. We also have 100percent gas-powered generators that are designed from the start to run on gas that means they are optimized to using gas, which is even safer,” Oguegbu said.
Oguegbu also reiterated OMAA’s commitment to local content development and job creation in Nigeria, stating “it is every company’s responsibility to address the nationwide crisis of unemployment. Hence, part of our core values is to empower the people while we energize the nation. Not only are our vehicles assembled by local talents, our facility also includes a training centre which has the ambition to provide subsidized training in gas conversion technology to at least one hundred participants in 2021.”
The company plans to introduce, by next year, a wider portfolio of solutions to address the energy demand in the residential, commercial and industrial markets, using natural gas while appealing for government support.
“If the government supports the industry, we are going to see more people employed, we are going to see more growth and development”, Oguegbu insisted.
OMAA manufactures factory-fitted dual-fuel vehicles to meet the growing demand of vehicles that run on cleaner energy sources within Nigeria and across Africa.
From its facility located in Igbo Ukwu, Anambra state, the company caters to energy demands for the transportation and energy industry with natural gas. This is in line with the National Gas Expansion Program (NGEP) implemented by the Federal Government to encourage the usage of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG).
