Investment opportunities in the emerging Nigerian alternative energy sector (3)

Supply and distribution of renewable energy components such as deep cycle controller batteries, inverters, charge controllers, electronic components and remote monitoring devices, control panels, CSP panels, cablings, sun trackers, nadcels, bearings, alternators, wind turbines, windmills, photovoltaic appliances, wind data collection devices etc. among many others are some areas to look into by prospective investors.

 

Supplies increase with more participants entering the industry. The provision of consultancy and installation with maintenance services are other lucrative areas of business in the industry. Independent power provision is the biggest point of investment in the alternative energy industry. There’s also the need for local production in order to shore up the local content in renewable energies. Part of the high capital cost of renewable energy technology is due to the absence of local production and the paucity of certified competent manpower base. Aside, taking an inspection at most of the solar panels imported, they are not of the ‘A’ grade. Local production will drive down cost towards rock bottom.

 

The local productions will also need to do R and D to suite Nigeria’s local peculiarities. Imported (Western) solar panels aren’t designed for best performance in tropical regions. The truth is that higher profits are achieved from supply and/or production of these components than in any other kind of service or business activity in the industry just like obtains in most other fields. The supply chain activities and their attendant value addition are the major sources of quality employment opportunities in the alternative energy sector generally.

 

With renewable energy comes the accompanying need for efficient energy management. Alternative energy systems bring the message of prudence in energy utilization which calls for a reduction in energy wastage, optimum usage, conservation, and accurate rationing of energy. The cost of generating energy is more than ever a big factor in public and private wallet. Energy Audit and Optimization as a field of practice should come handy with renewable energy adoption. The question of exactly how much electricity a household, factory, or even community needs from time to time should be clearly verified as a check against wasteful practices. Wasteful use of energy has to be avoided. Especially where feed-in-tariff is involved, the need for trained energy audit experts to verify, access, and quantify with the aim of determining the proper rationing of energy (electricity) cannot be overestimated. These also include the use of energy efficient devices and designs in buildings, structures, appliances, and average duration of usage etc.

The benefits of a good energy audit include saving between 10% and 40% maintenance cost and up to 60% of current unaudited energy bill. More lights will be thrown on this topic in subsequent publications. The resilience of alternative energy sources may not match that of fossil fuels at the present level of technology and as such calls for discipline in use and depth of power bank discharge. The depth of discharge in this case in simplest of terms means how low a battery/inverter should be allowed to be discharged/used before recharging. Repeatedly discharging a battery or inverter below the depth of discharge (DOB) weakens it permanently as such the battery may never maintain its full or rated capacity again even when the charge indicator indicates 100% charge level. The same principle applies to most rechargeable batteries whether AC or DC.

Christian Okwori

Christian Okwori is the founder of Fresh Earth Renewable Energy Systems and Agriculture Ltd. He is also the Technical Secretary of the Nigeria Society of Engineers, Victoria Island branch.