The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mallam Mele Kyari, has expressed excitement over the delivery of 96 pipes for the Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano (AKK) gas pipeline project via rail transportation.
According to the NNPC, the arrival of the pipes weekend by rail at once, represented an equivalent of 32 trailers if the haulage was done by road.
The mode of transportation, the Corporation said, was less costly, safer, and faster, adding it was a major boost to the delivery of the AKK gas pipeline project.
“A major boost in the delivery of AKK gas project as NRC train finally commenced epoch-making haulage of line pipes from Warri to Itakpe. This locomotive, which began journey at 11.05 am on April 8, 2021, carried 96 pipes at once, an equivalent of 32 trailers on the road”.
“We congratulate our team on the arrival at 10.25pm 8.4.2021 of AKK gas project line pipes by rail from Warri to Itakpe – less cost, faster delivery time, safer, protecting our roads and more. The infrastructure revolution is paying up,” an elated Kyari stated on his personal Twitter handle.
The 614km-long AKK gas pipeline project was flagged off in July, 2020, by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The project is being executed in three phases. The first phase covers a distance of 200 kilometers between Ajaokuta and Abuja, while the second and the third phases cover a distance of 193 kilometers and 221 kilometers, from Abuja to Kaduna, and from Kaduna to Kano respectively.
The AKK pipeline project is the single biggest gas pipeline project in the West African country’s history. The project being developed by the NNPC, will run from Ajaokuta to Kano in Nigeria.
Estimated to cost $2.8bn, the pipeline project forms phase one of the Trans-Nigeria Gas Pipeline (TNGP) project. It is being implemented via a build and transfer (BT) public-private partnership (PPP) model, which involves the contractor providing 100% of the funding.
The construction was commenced in July 2020 with commissioning scheduled for 2022.