Oando matches govt’s efforts with 100 electric buses

Oando Clean Energy (OCEL), the renewable energy subsidiary of Oando Energy Resources (OER), the Upstream division of Oando PLC (the Oando Group of Companies), has announced plans by the company to support the Federal Government through the purchase and deployment of an additional 50 new electric buses.

This is in addition to the fleet of 50 buses already committed to and ordered for Lagos State, making it a total of 100 new buses that the company will be deploying across the nation. The announcement was made at the ongoing Conference of the Parties (COP28) event in Dubai.

On May 24, 2023, OCEL launched its Sustainable Transport initiative with a Proof-of-Concept (PoC) in collaboration with Lagos State through the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA).

At a side event in the Nigeria pavilion, the company’s Executive Vice President (EVP), Ademola Ogunbanjo, spoke of the successful completion of the 90-day Proof-of-Concept (PoC) phase.

“During the PoC, we rolled out two electric mass transit buses, and they ploughed four routes covering over 43,800 kilometres, carrying over 73,000 passengers, saving bus operators 21,000 litres of diesel and mitigating 57.8 tonnes in CO2 emissions within the State”, he noted.

He said that the company’s Sustainable Transport initiative is now being progressed to a pilot phase of 50 buses and 2,000 buses at full rollout for Lagos State.

“On the back of the successful PoC and deliberations with several State Governments, OCEL will match the Federal Government’s commitment of 100 electric buses towards reducing the country’s carbon emissions. The distribution of the buses will be as follows: 50 buses for a pilot phase in Lagos State.

The remaining 50 buses will be spread across Cross River, Kaduna and Edo States, as well as the FCT”, he added.

Recognizing the critical role of private sector players in the country’s energy transition journey, the Director General, National Council on Climate Change (NCCC), Dr Salisu Dahiru, said at a COP28 side event, “It’s heartwarming to see that some of the key players in the oil and gas industry are even ahead of Government. Oando is ahead of everybody, we want to see their approach replicated by other private sector players, and on the part of the Government.”