The federal government of Nigeria has vowed to attain 30 GigaWatts of power with 30% renewable energy by 2023 to boost steady power supply in the country.
Making this assurance at this year’s seventh Nigeria Energy Forum (NEF) in Lagos on Monday, the minister of state for power, Mr. Goddy Jedy-Agba, reiterated the federal government’s commitment to the 2023 sustainable energy target.
Speaking on the theme, ‘Energising Economic Growth and Sustainability,’ Jeddy-Egba said that the ministry has ongoing renewal energy programmes and initiatives in place to achieve the target.
Represented by his special technical assistant, Mr. Gabriel Lorsase, the minister said, “We are in collaboration with the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) under the Nigerian Energy Support Programme (NESP) funded by the European Union conceived and developed the Nigeria renewable vision platform.
“This is to serve as a hub for data-driven electrification planning and implementation. The objective of the project aims at enabling and fostering investments in renewable energy, energy efficiency and data-driven electrification planning and implementation while sustainably increasing energy access.
“The federal government and Siemens have also signed an implementation agreement electrification roadmap. The goal of the roadmap is to resolve existing challenges in the power sector and expand the capacity for the future power needs of the country.
“The Presidential Power Initiative (PPI) in Phase 1 seeks to modernise, rehabilitate and expand the national grid by investing in the electricity value chain, including generation, transmission and distribution systems of the power sector.
“Nigeria is ready because there is a clear policy on renewable energy and energy efficiency. Our Renewable Energy Action Plan has put that in place, so, we can say that Nigeria is ready for renewable energy and some projects have already been embarked upon, which are providing clean energy to Nigerians.”
Also speaking during the forum, the Canadian High Commissioner, James Christoff, noted that the country was open to more bilateral cooperation in the power sector with Nigeria.
According to Christoff who was represented by the Deputy High Commissioner, Teshome Nkrumah, Canada would assist Nigeria in achieving power sector transformation, adding that it was necessary for Nigeria to first create an enabling environment where economic incentives would align with goals.
The High Commissioner pointed out that their goals need to reflect broader commitments including climate change, unemployment and economic development.
Christoff said that “It will take this kind of sustained, collaborative and broad-based effort from us to build a cleaner, greener future that improves lives and livelihoods.
“Along those lines, I commend the Nigerian government on the implementation of the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) Action Agenda in support of SDG 7, which seeks to see renewable energy contribute 30 per cent to the available energy mix by 2030.
“The prospect of clean energy leapfrogging conventional sources are certainly within reach for Nigeria, particularly in light of rising diesel costs, and partly due to the increased market penetration of renewable energy solutions.
“This includes solar home systems, isolated and interconnected mini-grids, captive solar solutions for commercial and industrial customers, and more.
“With an estimated 85 million Nigerians without access to grid electricity, representing 43 per cent of the country’s population, the opportunities for off-grid renewable energy are immense.”
In addition, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC), Tinuade Sanda, explained that the power company has committed huge investment on construction, reconstruction and network augmentation.
According to the MD who was represented by the chief human resources officer of the company, Aik Alenkhe, the Disco company was exploring off-grid power supply options such as embedded generation and wind generation projects estimated at about 1,200 megawatts to improve supply to its customers.
Sanda noted that the mission of the company was to improve the quality of life for all customers and stakeholders by utilising cutting-edge technology and innovative processes to ensure safety supply of electricity.
Earlier in his remarks, the chairman of the NEF 2022 conference, Oluwole Adeuyi, said the focus of this year’s conference was on boosting investment in climate-smart energy infrastructure and transitioning to cleaner, efficient and economic energy solutions.
The chairman said that the conference sought to build the capacity of energy professionals, thereby supporting energy users at all levels such as residential, commercial and industrial.
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