Power generation companies have stated that Nigeria possesses the capacity to generate approximately 427,000 megawatts of electricity using solar energy derived from sunlight.
Presently, Nigeria’s power generation stands at less than 5,000MW, which is inadequate for its population of over 200 million people.
For instance, data extracted from the Federal Ministry of Power reveals that the grid’s power generation at 6am was recorded at 3,803.6MW.
The CEO of the Association of Power Generation Companies, Joy Ogaji, delivered a presentation titled ‘The Electricity Act 2023: Options for Renewable Energy Penetration and Role of Stakeholders.’
She highlighted that solar energy could potentially contribute over 420,000MW to Nigeria’s power generation capacity.
Ogaji presented this information at a workshop centered on renewable energy penetration and the roles of stakeholders, organized by the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Association-Alliance in Abuja.
This presentation was shared with our correspondent on Sunday by the REEEA-A.
She said, “The potential of renewable energy in Nigeria is huge. The country has solar radiation of 3.5 to 7.0 kWh/m2 per day, and 427,000MW can be generated in Nigeria from solar alone!
“Hydro resources are estimated at 14,750MW. Wind speeds of 2-5m/s with a potential of 150,000 TJ per year.”
Describing the present state of renewable energy in Nigeria, the representative from the power generation companies (Gencos) indicated that no renewable energy generation was linked to the distribution or transmission levels, despite having set targets.
She elaborated, “The majority of energy generation occurs off-grid, involving solar home systems and rooftop solar. However, accurate data is lacking.” The cost of renewable energy in Nigeria is around $0.55 to $0.6 per kWh, making it less competitive compared to utility electricity, which costs approximately $0.105 per kWh.
“Achieving set targets with mini-grids will be a slow process. If 1,000 mini-grids of 1MW each are built, we will only achieve 1GW (gigawatts).”
On the challenges in the renewable market, she said domestic demand in West African countries was too low to attract investments in large projects that benefitted from economies of scale.
Ogaji said, “Lack of effective planning and monitoring has led to reliance on emergency rental plants, which further inflates costs. Imbalance in bilateral contracts for the purchase and sale of electricity, especially for deliveries beyond the borders, payment defaults of buyers, as well as the failures to deliver the electricity promised by several sellers.
“There is a lack of synergy in the regulatory frameworks of some member states. Differences in contractual arrangements and disparities in the organisation of national markets are challenges. Lack of harmonisation and standardisation in operational, security rules, contractual provisions and tariffs are concerns.”
The President, REEEA-A, Prof. Magnus Onuoha, said with enough renewable energy capacity, Nigeria could create green jobs, entrepreneurs and evolve women and youth empowerment.
Onuoha said, “Beyond installation and deployment of renewable energy and energy efficient technologies, there are millions of ancillary jobs/efforts that accrue from there.
“There are so many activities, new dynamics, technologies, interventions, measures, policies and relationships flowing around the renewable energy and energy efficiency sector.
“Globally, the Russia-Ukraine war showed us that beyond energy transition, we need to look vigorously at energy security. Here in Nigeria, the fuel subsidy removal, the Electricity Act recently signed into law, rising cost of energy dominant systems and measures, show us that it is time for a very critical rapprochement and behavioural change towards renewable energy and energy efficiency.”