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The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) has pointed out that it will need eight bottling plants in all to roll out the Cylinder Recirculation Model (CRM) in the entire country.

The authority which is seeking to move away from the old model of gas filling to a new model which would see the building of LPG bottling plants that will fill cylinders for distribution at approved cylinder exchange points, says it would, however, begin rolling out immediately the first bottling plant is completed.

Mrs Esther Anku, Chief Inspector at the Inspection, Monitoring and HSSE Department of the NPA told journalists in Accra on Tuesday that the new model would be rolled out side by side with the old model until the whole country is covered.

“When the first bottling plant is built we would begin in that zone or area and continue throughout the country as the bottling plants are built.” 

She said Ghanaians should expect proactive supervision, changes in monitoring and inspection routine and better coordination among the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), the NPA, the Ghana National Fire Service and other stakeholders.

So far 18 companies have applied for licences to set up LPG bottling plants across the country.
Out of the number, 17 are wholly-owned local companies with one being a company which would be operating as a Free Zones company.

Bottling plant requirements

The Director of Licensing at the NPA, Mr Benjamin Agyare, said companies must be 100 per cent locally-owned, must have permit from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), submit a business plan, show evidence of having capacity for producing 250 tonnes of gas and have capacity to produce 1,000 cylinders a day.

He said they must also show evidence of safety mechanisms, be able to raise $1.2 million capital for initial operations, pay a non-refundable fee of $10,000 and be in a position to pay an annual licence fee of $50,000 among others.

The LPG bottling plant is also expected to have a minimum storage capacity of 250Mt with an automated bottling plant and a filling capacity of 1,000 cylinders per hour. The country will be zoned for the siting of these bottling plants. However, the distribution of their filled cylinders will not be limited to any particular zone.

Implementation of CRM

Chief Executive Officer of NPA, Mr Alhassan Tampuli stated that the policy when implemented would help to curb the numerous gas explosions that frequently hit the country, and also solve the stress consumers go through in filling their cylinders.

He added that the unfortunate fire incidents recorded in the past made it imperative for the policy to receive full support, adding that the African Development Bank and the Indian government had pledged support for the new LPG policy.

In order to ensure smooth implementation, he said LPG refilling plants would be classified into low risk and high risk based on their deficiency in meeting safety standards in a Risk Assessment of all plants by the NPA. The high risk refilling station would be immediately converted into filled cylinder retail and distribution outlets whereas low risk refilling stations would be dedicated to the supply of Autogas only, with improved safety standards.