Ejiofor Alike
Petrocam Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of Petrocam Trading (Pty) Limited of South Africa has opened another solar-powered petrol station in Lagos as part of the company’s drive to increase its local presence in the downstream sector of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
Before its current drive to penetrate the local market, the company’s major focus was importing refined petroleum products such as petrol, gasoil, kerosene, naphtha, lubricants and greases for the oil marketing companies in Nigeria.
But in a renewed drive to tap into the local market, the company has opened another solar-powered filling station in Lekki area of Lagos, thus bringing to three the company’s filling stations that are solar-powered in Lagos.
Gennex Technologies is the provider of solar solutions for Petrocam Stations.
Speaking to journalists during the opening ceremony of the new station in Lekki area of Lagos, the Executive Director in charge of Engineering at Gennex Technologies, Mr. Tunji Tayo noted that the 112 kilowatt-capacity solar power would guarantee 24 hours of uninterrupted power supply to the station.
He said the capacity could also be increased if the need arose in the future.
Tayo noted that Nigeria is lagging behind in the deployment of solar technology to address the power deficit in the country.
“Nigeria is still very far behind in terms of renewable energy. Apart from Total, which has built one solar-powered filling station in Maryland, the next retail solar-powered station is Petrocam. Petrocam has built three solar powered stations. So, Nigeria is still very far from getting there. But we are supposed to be there because that is where the whole world is going,” he said.
“Solar will appear expensive if you look at the initial capital outlook but I can tell you that you should consider the fact that these solar panels are going to be there in the next 20 to 25 years. So, it is actually an asset. If you want to build a house, you cannot say that the house is actually expensive because you know that the house probably would outlive you. So, if you look at Solar from this perspective, the manufacturers’ warranty for the solar panels is 25 years. That is not to say that the panels will become useless after 25 years. No! It is just the warranty,” he added.
Apart from Petrocam, Tayo said his company had deployed solar solutions to many residential houses within and outside Lagos.
According to him, the company’s solar power is 100 per cent installed and engineered by Nigerians.
“So, our people can do this thing. The first one we deployed at Petrocam Filling Station in Ajah is one year old and it has no issues,” he added.
Petrocam Trading (Pty) Ltd prides itself as an entity focused on commodity trading in Africa and “has in the last 10 years developed invaluable and competitive experience in operating in developing countries and has cemented its ability to facilitate trade in emerging and developing markets, relating to African import and export flows of commodities”.
