{"id":59784,"date":"2025-01-21T14:41:54","date_gmt":"2025-01-21T14:41:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/?p=59784"},"modified":"2025-01-21T14:44:10","modified_gmt":"2025-01-21T14:44:10","slug":"nigerias-energy-transition-picng-ceo-unveils-targets-progress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/2025\/01\/21\/nigerias-energy-transition-picng-ceo-unveils-targets-progress\/","title":{"rendered":"Nigeria&#8217;s Energy Transition: PiCNG CEO Unveils Targets, Progress"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Ade Iyamoye\u00a0<\/strong><br \/>\nThe Federal Government\u2019s Presidential Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), Initiative is taking bold strides towards reducing transportation costs and advancing Nigeria\u2019s energy transition goals.<br \/>\nIn an exclusive interview with TVC, the Project Director and CEO of the Presidential initiative Compressed Natural Gas initiative (PiCNG), Michael Oluwagbemi detailed the program&#8217;s progress, challenges, and ambitious targets.<br \/>\nOluwagbemi revealed that the initiative began distributing conversion kits, focusing on urban centers like Lagos and Abuja.<br \/>\n\u201cOur goal is to convert 10,000 commercial vehicles in these cities within the next 10 weeks,\u201d he said, emphasizing a strategy to reduce transportation costs through mass vehicle conversions.<br \/>\nPartnerships with transport unions and agreements for fare reductions are underway to ensure Nigerians feel the immediate benefits.<br \/>\nThe initiative aims to expand conversion centers from 193 to 500 by year-end, raising annual conversion capacity from 55,000 to over 200,000 vehicles.<br \/>\n\u201cIn 12 months, we project 150,000 to 250,000 vehicles running on CNG, scaling up to half a million within 18 months,\u201d Oluwagbemi noted.<br \/>\nHe also highlighted investments in technician training, targeting 10,000 personnel this year.<br \/>\nAddressing local content, Oluwagbemi said over 80% of the program\u2019s spending involves Nigerian companies.<br \/>\nHe highlighted partnerships with indigenous firms like Innoson, Jet Automotive, and Mikano to boost manufacturing capacity for CNG kits and vehicles.<br \/>\n\u201cThis creates jobs and positions Nigerian companies to dominate the CNG value chain,\u201d he remarked.<br \/>\nChallenges remain, including the availability of gas refilling stations. The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), has pledged 120 refilling stations, with 20 expected to be operational by mid-2024.<br \/>\nModular refueling units are also being deployed to reduce wait times at pumps.<br \/>\nThe initiative, hailed as a critical component of Nigeria\u2019s energy transition, aligns with global trends.<br \/>\n\u201cCountries like India are already moving away from petrol and diesel. Nigeria must follow suit to achieve sustainability,\u201d Oluwagbemi asserted.<br \/>\nWith lofty goals and significant progress, the Presidential CNG Initiative is set to transform Nigeria\u2019s transportation sector, promising economic relief and environmental benefits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Ade Iyamoye\u00a0 The Federal Government\u2019s Presidential Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), Initiative is taking bold strides towards reducing transportation costs and advancing Nigeria\u2019s energy transition goals. In an exclusive interview with TVC, the Project Director and CEO of the Presidential initiative Compressed Natural Gas initiative (PiCNG), Michael Oluwagbemi detailed the program&#8217;s progress, challenges, and ambitious [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":59785,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[177,172],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-59784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-abuja-reports","category-news","tag-featured"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59784"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59784\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59789,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59784\/revisions\/59789"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}