NPA kickstarts cylinder recirculation model in September

The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) is set to roll out the Cylinder Recirculation Model (CRM) Programme in September this year.

Under the CRM, residents of Accra and other selected parts of the country do not have to own a cylinder to use Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) for the domestic and commercial activities.

Filled LPG cylinders will be kept at exchange points for customers to pay for the content and pick up the filled cylinders after registering with their National Identity Card.

The implementation of the CRM will be championed by the NPA and its partners under the supervision of the Ministry of Energy.

Briefing the media on the planned implementation of the CRM in Accra, Deputy Chief Executive of NPA, Mr. Perry Okudzeto, said the programme would be roll-out in September in Accra and Kumasi and would gradually spread across the country.

He said the CRM would run side by side with the current distribution model until is phased out.

Mr. Okudzeto said a 50-member committee was working on the CRM.

He indicated that the LPG Marketing Companies had representation on the committee and their inputs had been factored into the framework.

“All industry players have been engaged, their ideas hav been taken on board and the framework has been designed with their input and are ready to offer their support to ensure the success of the project,” he stressed.

Mr. Okudzeto said the implementation of the CRM is to ensure that at least 50% of Ghanaians have access to safe, clean and environmentally friendly LPG by 2030.

It is also meant to improve access to LPG, improve safety in the distribution of LPG and to increase adoption of LPG.

Additionally, it is a policy shift to stop the unnecessary loss of lives and properties as well as gas filling stations, mostly due to human error.

Mr. Okudzeto explained that per the CRM policy, cylinders procured from manufacturing companies would be sent to Bottling Plants to be filled.

The filled cylinders will be transported in bulk to exchange depots for holding and sorting before transporting them in quantities to cylinder exchange points where consumers can register and pay for any quantity for domestic and commercial consumption.

Specialised trucks will be used to transport the filled cylinders from the bottling plants to the retail stations or exchange points, where consumers will exchange their empty cylinders for filled ones.

Mr. Okudzeto said the registration with the Ghana card at the exchange points was necessary to have data on consumers for traceability.

He said the programme had been well piloted, the system streamlined and the infrastructure put in place to ensure the safe delivery and use of LPG across the operational areas.

“The NPA commissioned a pilot programme with the existing infrastructure. The pilot programme was done in the Eastern Region around the Kwaebibem area, in Ashanti Region in Obuasi zone and then in the Northern Region in the Yendi zone. The programme taught us quite a number of lessons and that has gone into shaping the framework for the implementation of the new policy,” he said.

Mr. Okudzeto said four CRM Bottling facilities – GOIL Bottling Plant in Tema and Kumasi as well the Blue Ocean and Newgas facilities were ready to take off.

APPEB Cylinder Manufacturing Company in Awutu Senya, SIGMA Cylinder Manufacturing Company in Accra and the Ghana Cylinder Manufacturing Company at Spintex, which will be producing the cylinders to be distributed nationwide, are also ready for the roll out.

“So far, since 2017, the first step has been to construct bottling plants that will be the main pivot around which the policy will operate since under the new policy, cylinders are going to be filled with LPG and sent to exchange points for distribution,” Mr Okudjeto stressed.