The Deputy Minister of Energy, Mrs. Judith Kapinga has launched a Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Station which has the capacity to fill 1200 vehicles with Natural Gas per day and will be operational 24 hours a day.
Ms. Kapinga launched the station on May 09, 2025 in Dar es Salaam representing the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy, Dr. Dotto Biteko where the launch coincided with the launch of a prototype bus of the Rapid Transit Bus Company (UDART) which will run on Natural Gas energy.
Speaking at the launch event, Mrs. Kapinga thanked the President, Dr. Samia Suluhu Hassan for his vision, approach and instructions to the Ministry of Energy which are bringing positive results, one example being the launch of the CNG station.
He thanked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy, Dr. Doto Biteko for his leadership which leads to the availability of reliable energy that is friendly to the environment and the health of the citizens.
“In the past, there have been complaints about the presence of long queues for filling gas in fire engines at CNG stations including the Ubungo Maziwa station, but the presence of this station shows how the Government is implementing in practice the promises it makes to the citizens to reduce the inconvenience of accessing CNG, I congratulate the President, Dr. Samia for continuing to solve the challenges of the citizens and I also congratulate the Board and Management of TPDC for this step”, said, Mrs. Kapinga
She said the station will have the capacity to fill gas in eight vehicles at a time, stimulate the increase of other CNG stations and provide gas services to other users such as industries, schools, hotels, etc.
Mrs. Kapinga has instructed TPDC to ensure that the station becomes an example of providing quality and standard services to customers while considering safety and environmental protection issues.
He has also directed TPDC to continue building CNG stations in other parts of the country including Lindi and Mtwara, as well as to provide cooperation to the private sector to continue stimulating investment in the CNG sector.
The Deputy Minister, Mrs. Kapinga also thanked the private sector for continuing to support the Government in the construction of CNG stations.
He urged Tanzanians to seize the opportunity to install gas consumption systems in their vehicles as these systems do not damage the vehicles and they will also benefit from reduced operating costs.
Regarding the UDART company which for the first time has launched a new bus that uses Natural Gas, being one of the many buses that use the gas, Ms. Kapinga said the partnership between TPDC and UDART will continue to stimulate investment in CNG and continue to improve transport services in the city, Dar es Salaam.
The Ubungo District Commissioner, Mr. Albert Msando speaking on behalf of the Dar es Salaam Regional Commissioner, has commended the Ministry of Energy for the great work being done to achieve great results in the sector and promised protection in the infrastructure which is important in providing services to the citizens.
The Vice Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Energy and Minerals, Mr. Kilumbe Ng’enda said the Parliament is satisfied with the steps being taken rapidly by the Government in developing the Gas Sector explaining that when you use natural gas to drive you get a 40 percent discount compared to oil.
The Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Energy, Dr. James Mataragio congratulated the TPDC Board and Management for successfully implementing the project and also congratulated UDART who will be major CNG customers.
He said the project is a matter of pride as the newly launched facility is the second largest in Africa and the first largest in the East African region, TPDC Board Chairman.
Ambassador Ombeni Sefue said the Board and Management of the institution will ensure that the challenge of citizens lining up for long queues at CNG stations ends and they will ensure that natural gas resources are available at all times through various services including cooking and operating fire engines.
TPDC Acting Managing Director, Mr. Francis Mwakapalila said that in stimulating the use of Natural Gas in fire engines in the country, TPDC has decided to focus on investing in the construction of natural gas filling stations for fire engines including cars and motorcycles in various parts of the country and they have already begun the procurement process for five non-combustible CNG stations which will be located in Dar es Salaam, Morogoro and Dodoma regions.
The Director of the Petroleum Business Department from TPDC, Engineer Emmanuel Gilbert said the facility has the capacity to produce CNG of 4.2 million cubic feet equivalent to 120 kilograms per day, has 4 pumps with a total of 8 nozzles, thus making the facility capable of servicing 8 vehicles at the same time, which will provide services to approximately 1200 vehicles per day.
He said the facility has three special pumps for filling special vehicles to transport CNG to small gas filling stations in vehicles (Offline CNG Filling Stations), industries, institutions and homes.
