Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja
The Presidential Initiative on Compressed Natural Gas and Electric Vehicles (Pi-CNG & EV) has again warned motorists against the use of unauthorised cylinders and components in vehicle conversions following an incident involving a Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) cylinder at a filling station in Abuja.
The incident was said to have occurred on Sunday at the NIPCO gas filling station along Airport Road, Abuja, when a cylinder fitted to a vehicle exploded during refuelling, a statement in Abuja by the organisation’s spokesman, Onyekachi Eke, said.
According to available information, the cylinder installed in the vehicle was not designed or certified for the storage of compressed natural gas (CNG).
Pi-CNG & EV, in a statement yesterday, said no life was lost and no injury was recorded in the incident, but stressed that it underscored the dangers posed by illegal and unsafe CNG conversions.
It said the driver of the vehicle had been apprehended and was expected to face the full weight of the law over the use of an unauthorised cylinder that endangered lives and property.
The initiative said motorists must understand that not every cylinder capable of containing gas was suitable for CNG use, warning against the practice of improvising with cylinders manufactured for other purposes.
“A cylinder is not a CNG cylinder simply because it can contain gas,” the initiative stated, stressing that cylinders designed for other applications could not be adapted or converted for automotive CNG storage.
It warned that the use of substandard, fabricated, expired or unapproved cylinders exposed vehicle owners, passengers, technicians, filling station personnel and members of the public to serious risks.
Pi-CNG & EV also urged motorists to avoid unqualified technicians and the use of cheaper, unapproved components to reduce conversion costs, noting that every vehicle conversion must comply with prescribed safety standards.
It called on vehicle owners and commercial operators to patronise only NADDC-accredited conversion centres and use SON-certified CNG kits and cylinders.
The initiative also urged NMDPRA-licensed CNG refuelling stations to maintain vigilance and ensure that appropriate safety and verification procedures were followed before dispensing gas.
It said the rapid growth of Nigeria’s CNG market made strict compliance with safety standards increasingly important, adding that it would continue to work with regulatory and standards agencies to strengthen compliance, public awareness and safety across the CNG value chain.