WLPGA Training Workshop, Kenya May 2017
Every year the WLPGA run a training workshop in conjunction with the Petroleum Industry of East Africa (PIEA) and this year it was held at the Serena Hotel in Nairobi 2nd – 4th May.
Delegates attending this years’ workshop included the Director of the Kenyan Pipeline Authority, the head of the National Oil Company’s LPG Division, the Kenyan Bureau of Standards and a representative from the Rwandan government.
The Kenyan government is planning to invest in a major LPG infrastructure initiative focusing on a large ‘common user’ LPG storage facility in Mombasa to import large sea fed cargoes of LPG and a roll out of storage and distribution facilities across the country which will also service the bordering East African countries including Uganda and Rwanda. There is serious intent to transition Kenyans away from traditional fuels to LPG. These issues provided a backdrop to the workshop over the three days.
The LPG training workshop, run by WLPGA Director David Tyler, focussed on the need for safe, sustainable, affordable and accessible LPG to displace traditional fuels in East Africa. The per capita consumption of LPG in East Africa is very low but the potential is enormous.
The programme focused on many subjects that were related to this plan including the merits of different types of bulk storage designs, the options for cylinder filling plants, and the importance of a sole branded integrated network to gain a tighter control of the distribution channel to eradicate bad practices. The argument for containerised cylinder filling as a temporary facility to create demand for LPG, especially in rural areas, created a lot of interest and discussion.
Case studies were used to encourage debate among the delegates concerning the different ways to transition the switch away from traditional fuels to LPG in the domestic sector and how to educate the various stakeholders, including the distribution channel and the consumer, about the safe storage, handling, distribution and use of LPG.
For more information about training contact David Tyler on dtyler@wlpga.org
Some of the most senior figures from the Kenyan LPG industry that took part in the training workshop included the head of the LPG division of the National Oil Company of Kenya