Stakeholders in the energy industry have called for support for the renewable energy sector to enable it to contribute to Nigeria’s quest to end energy poverty.
Speaking at a workshop organised by the Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Association (Alliance) in Abuja, they observed that if fully backed, the sector would play a greater role in improving energy supply in the country.
Speaking at the workshop, the CEO Association of Power Generation Companies, APGC, Dr. Joy Ogaji said with the solar resources available in the country, Nigeria can generate as much as 427 Gigawatts of electricity from solar.
Dr. Ogaji pointed out that while no renewable energy project is connected to the National grid, the majority are off-grid, solar home systems and rooftop solar with no clear data on the amount of energy generated across the country.
She also pointed out that energy generated from solar is not competitive compared to regular utilities with renewable energy costing $0.50-0.6/kwh as against $0.105/kwh in the utilities.
In his presentation, micro and development Finance expert, Prof. Frank Amagwu said renewable energy can provide Nigerians, small and medium scale businesses with reliable sources of energy for several years.
According to him, “Renewable energy is another growth sector with huge opportunities. We are talking about 220 million Nigerians and 36.7 million SMEs, every one of them needs power. It’s either NEPA is providing or they are using small generators.
“Now that we are embracing renewable energy, we should embrace it to add more value. With it, we will have a reliable source of power and power supply will become efficient”, he added.
Speaking at the inauguration of the REEEA Governing Council, the President Prof. Magnus Onuoha explained that the alliance was set up to provide a common push for the growth of the renewable energy sector.
Prof. Onuoha pointed out that the sector the renewable energy and energy efficiency sector has so much potential for women empowerment, youth development and national growth.
He added that “We barely had a cadre of local indigenous developers as most of the developers then, products and finance were not accessible to Nigerian developers”.
