Khan: New CNG station at Preysal

Energy Minister Franklin Khan
Energy Minister Franklin Khan

Energy Minister Franklin Khan promised a $10 million new flagship service station offering compressed natural gas (CNG) at the Couva Interchange at Preysal, speaking in the Senate yesterday on the Finance Bill 2017. The station will have ten CNG ports and five for gasoline, to service the 9,000 CNG vehicles he expects in TT within the next three years. Hailing a doubling of CNG users since 2014 to some 3,000 vehicles now, he touted the tax-breaks for CNG conversions and the $1 cost of a litre equivalent of CNG compared to $3.41 for diesel, $3.97 for super and $5.75 for premium.

Khan also promised a new project at the Beetham landfill to convert waste to energy to generate electricity to be supplied to the electrical grid. “We had unsolicited proposals from major companies but decided not to have a sole select but to seek expressions of interest.”

He said his ministry in recent media adverts has invited firms to submit proposals to set up solar or wind-based power plants, saying the latter could ideally be located at Mayaro.

Khan related that at a recent energy ministers forum in Bolivia he had boasted that in the western hemisphere only TT generates all its electricity from natural gas, the cleanest of all fossil fuels. “What’s the purpose of an electric car if you are generating electricity from coal?” he asked.

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"Khan: New CNG station at Preysal"

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