Nigeria willMeet 2030 Renewable Energy Target

The Federal Government says Nigeria will meet the 2023 sustainable energy target. Minister of State for Power, Mr Goddy Jedy-Agba, who expressed optimism at the 7th Nigeria Energy Forum (NEF) 2022 in Lagos, said the ministry had ongoing renewal energy programmes and initiatives in place to achieve the target. He spoke on the theme “Energising Economic Growth and Sustainability.”  He said the Ministry is collaborating with 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, he said, was to serve as a hub for data-driven electrification planning and implementation. He added that 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. According to him, the Federal Government and Siemens have also signed an implementation agreement electrification roadmap. The goal of the roadmap, he stressed, 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 ready been embarked upon, which are providing clean energy to Nigerians,” he said. Speaking, the Canadian High Commissioner, Mr James Christoff, said the country was open to more bilateral cooperation in the power sector with Nigeria. Canada, he said, 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. According to him, our goals need to reflect broader commitments such as on climate change, unemployment and economic development. “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,” he said.

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