- Some firms are owned and operated exclusively by locals, while others are partnerships between local and foreign investors.
- Nine natural gas filling stations for vehicles would be built and completed over the next 24 months.
Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) has given the go-ahead to 20 companies to build Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) stations as part of a larger initiative to deliver cleaner and more affordable energy. TPDC’s Oil and Gas director Dr Wellington Hudson disclosed this during a news conference on Saturday. He stated that local investors own some companies, while others are joint ventures involving local and foreign investors.
In the same line, he said that nine natural gas filling stations for vehicles would be built and completed over the next 24 months. He said, “Two stations, which are being constructed by Taqa (Taqa Arabia) and Dalbit (Dalbit Petroleum) around the airport and Sinza opposite Sam Nujoma Road, will be ready before the end of this year.” He noted that these stations would have workshops for converting vehicles to CNG systems. Adding that centres will be able to fill six vehicles with natural gas at once and enhance six lorries to pick up gas from the station and distribute it to other areas.
Dr Hudson explained, “In the long run, we anticipate having enough CNG stations within 24 months and addressing the current issues to enable more individuals to take advantage of the service.” Awareness of the benefits of using compressed natural gas (CNG) to power vehicles is gaining momentum in Tanzania. Thus, service providers now find it hard to keep pace with growing demand. According to the data available, approximately 1,000 vehicles had already been converted to run on CNG as of August last year.