Nigeria’s Renewable Energy Operators Push for Clean Energy to Replace $20bn Generators’ Spend

•Seek removal of barriers to investment in sector

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

The Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Associations-Alliance (REEEA-A), the umbrella body of all clean energy organisations in Nigeria, yesterday stated that clean energy sources could replace the $20 billion spent on fuelling generators in the country annually.

In a communiqué in Abuja after its international energy conference on: ‘’Accelerating Private Sector Investment in the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Sector,’’ President, Governing Council of the group, Prof Magnus Onuoha, called on the authorities to create a level playing field for operators.

The conference, the president said, came against the background of growing public concerns over issues of epileptic power supply and the need to transition into the renewable energy efficiency alternative in Nigeria.

At the end of the meeting, Onuoha said the players identified solutions which could significantly address investment barriers in the clean energy sector in Nigeria and enhance its growth.

“With the Electricity Act recently signed into law by President Bola Tinubu, the need to change the status quo has become imperative, considering that epileptic power supply has slowed developmental progress and killed lots of businesses dependent on power.

“For example, every year Nigeria spends $15-$20 billion to buy petrol for generators, that’s an investment waiting to be catalysed by the energy sector.

“Currently, for 200 million Nigerians to depend on 3,500 megawatts is extremely deficient and this calls for more dogged measures to ensure meaningful change,” REEEA-A stated.

One of the solutions, the alliance stated, will be to start funding more projects with the local currency, the naira and leveraging to enable growth of community-based developers for off-grid communities

The alliance also called for technical assistance and capacity building accelerator programmes for renewable energy entrepreneurs and developers, revenue assurances to support and fund large scale solar projects and payment mechanisms to support clean energy expansion.

It further called for policy recommendations to build social acceptance for Nigeria to use natural gas as a transition fuel and leverage on the Electricity Act recently passed into law by engaging the 36 states for integrated electricity within their states to generate power.

 Other solutions to spur clean energy growth in the country, the group said, include accelerating investment in the emerging green hydrogen space, Electric Vehicle (EV) opportunities in Nigeria and quick wins as well as development of carbon market opportunities and revenue arising therefrom.

The REEEA-A maintained that renewable energy has been identified as the most proactive option to address the challenges of electricity instability at the moment.

It stated that for Nigeria, with adequate financing, investment and support by government and all relevant stakeholders, a lot can be achieved to transition from the present abysmal electricity supply to a more sustainable alternative.

Government agencies present at the event included the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, Lagos State as well as Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET)

Onuoha lauded the REEEA-A Board of Trustees led by Prof. Abubakar Sambo for providing effective guidance and stability windows for the alliance.

Flanked by his lieutenants, Onuoha argued that as an emerging sector which is not being subsidised by the government, there has to be fairness for everybody in the energy space so that the market forces of demand and supply will be allowed play out.

“We are looking at the market mechanism that when you have a level playing ground for everybody, there will be healthy competition, and prices will find their levels.

“By the time you see the competition and people are no longer interested in getting fossil fuels, they will go into renewables with time, and they’ll forced by the interplay of demand and supply.

“You should have a free market and when the market chokes you, you leave. Oil and gas is so monopolistic…there are other sources or alternatives. The point I’m trying to make is that we need to situate ourselves and that’s why the alliance has come to stay.

“We have the mindset that what happened to oil and gas must not happen here and we are very much engaging with the government and civil society and the media.

 “The level playing ground is in policy issues, and all that. When subsidy was there, it was not a level -playing ground. Government was subsidising oil and gas but they were not subsidising renewables. So, policies are in place now. We have got the climate change Act, electricity Act etc.

“Part of the things we want to talk about is that there are some waivers we are looking forward to, because it’s not cost effective to begin to embark on it because the dollar is so high, but we are getting there,” he stated.