Starting from September this year, residents of Accra and selected areas in Ghana will no longer need to own their own gas cylinders to access Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG).
The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) and its partners, under the Ministry of Energy's supervision, are initiating the phased implementation of the Cylinder Recirculation Model (CRM). This new approach allows gas users to pick up filled cylinders and pay only for the gas content after registering with their National Identity Card.
The rollout of the CRM will commence in Accra and Kumasi next month, eventually extending across the country. Perry Okudzeto, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the NPA, explained that the model had undergone successful piloting, with streamlined systems and the necessary infrastructure now in place to ensure the safe and efficient use of LPG.
The CRM will include four bottling facilities, along with cylinder manufacturing companies, which will produce and distribute cylinders for the program. Cylinders will be filled at bottling plants, transported to exchange depots, and then provided to consumers at exchange points.
The new system aims to ensure that at least 50% of Ghanaians have access to safe and environmentally-friendly LPG by 2030, while also improving safety and reducing the loss of lives and property due to human error.
Perry Okudzeto emphasized that the implementation of CRM would not impact the price of LPG, stating, “We are still going to use the same price build-up for the implementation of the policy.”
The NPA will continue to run the existing distribution module alongside the CRM until a suitable timeline is agreed upon for the withdrawal of the old system.
All industry stakeholders have been engaged and their inputs incorporated into the framework. The NPA has also involved banks through the Ghana Association of Bankers to support the financing of various aspects of the project.