Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing (IVM) Limited has announced plans to build a Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) assembly plant in Bayelsa State as part of Nigeria’s growing push for more affordable and environmentally friendly transportation.
The move indicates a significant growth for Nigeria’s domestic automaker and a strategic advance for the nation’s continuous transition from gasoline-powered vehicles to natural gas alternatives.
As IVM founder and CEO Innocent Chukwuma revealed during a visit to Governor Douye Diri in Yenagoa, the proposed facility will assemble CNG-powered buses, ambulances, and vehicles and offer extensive employment and technical training opportunities.
“This investment will strengthen Bayelsa’s industrial base and create thousands of direct and indirect jobs in assembly, maintenance, logistics, and local manufacturing,” Chukwuma said.
The project is anticipated to create more than 1,000 jobs and help Nigeria meet its 2030 renewable energy target.
Nigeria’s transition to CNG
Through a combination of government-led programs and private investments, Nigeria is rapidly moving toward Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as a more affordable and environmentally friendly mode of transportation.
The Presidential CNG Initiative (Pi-CNG) leads the charge, establishing new CNG stations in Abuja, Lagos, and Enugu and refuelling and conversion facilities nationwide.
Nigeria’s CNG market may reach $10 billion in the next five years, according to estimates from the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative, which was led by Michael Oluwagbemi.
If successful, this would put the most populous country in Africa in a position to benefit from the rapidly growing global clean mobility market, which is expected to reach $1.58 trillion by 2030 from its 2022 valuation of $384.65 billion.
In an effort to increase energy diversification, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, in collaboration with NIPCO Gas, has already put 12 stations into service and intends to build 100 more in addition to three LNG sites.
A number of strategic partnerships support these national initiatives by aiming to localise production and technology.
SMEDAN and Rolling Energy started a project to convert more than 100,000 vehicles and teach SMEs how to maintain CNG engines, while the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) recently teamed up with Adeayworld Energy to produce and import CNG kits.
A 5.2 million standard cubic foot per day CNG plant in Lagos, currently the largest in Nigeria, and new industrial developments like the Anoh CNG Park in Imo State, which benefits from direct access to the Assa North-Ohaji gas reserves, are examples of increased private investment.
These initiatives demonstrate Nigeria’s increasing dedication to economic resilience and energy transition.
CNG is becoming a viable fuel substitute and a key component of Nigeria’s larger green industrial revolution as rising petrol prices and environmental concerns transform the automotive industry.