Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) firm Proto Energy plans to set up autogas filling pumps at stations owned by a multinational oil marketer in Kenya as part of a strategy to scale up its presence in Kenya and take advantage of the growing popularity of vehicles that use the propellant.
Autogas is also known as LPG—a fuel mixture comprising propane and butane, increasingly used to power vehicles.
Proto Energy Chief Executive Joel Kamau said the company is in advanced talks with the undisclosed oil marketer and targets sealing the deal by mid-June.
The use of LPG to power cars has been on the rise over the past four years led by operators of ride-hailing apps like Uber and Bolt who have converted their vehicles engines to enable them to use gas as an alternative to petrol.
The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra), recently disclosed that there were at least 20,000 LPG-powered vehicles on Kenyan roads as of March 2024.
Kenya had nine autogas filling stations at the time. However, a lack of stations outside Nairobi has been cited as a key hurdle derailing the use of LPG-powered vehicles.
“In the next 60 days, we will launch a partnership with one of the multinationals to do a few autogas stations in the city.
“This year, we would like to have 20 stations for autogas across the country,” said Mr Kamau.
Proto Energy currently owns three autogas-dedicated stations, in Githurai, Kayole, and Ruiru Bypass, and is keen to grow this number given the fast-growing use of autogas-powered vehicles.
Mr Kamau added that Proto Energy will rely on a mix of setting up its own stations and partnering with oil firms to drive the last-mile expansion of autogas and enable more motorists outside the city to access the commodity.
A litre of autogas is currently averaging Sh115 in Nairobi, making it significantly cheaper than a litre of diesel and petrol, which presently retail at Sh167.06 and 176.58, respectively.
Unlike petrol and diesel, prices of autogas are not regulated by Epra, leaving market forces to largely determine the prices.
LPG is the most used clean energy ahead of electricity, with a high number of ride-hailing operators like Bolt and Uber converting their petrol-powered cars to LPG.
Vehicles whose engines have been converted to LPG are also able to use petrol.
Proto Energy is also one of the firms that are converting petrol-powered engines to also use LPG, with Mr Kamau saying that the company has been recording a steady rise in the number of customers opting for autogas-driven engines.
The surge in LPG-powered vehicles is a key plank that the government is betting on to lower environmental pollution caused by diesel and petrol engines.
