Adebayo Adelabu, Nigeria’s minister of power, has said that the lack of political will, policy inconsistency, and under-investment, among other factors, have continued to hinder the growth of the power sector.
The minister disclosed this at the ‘Accelerated Renewable Energy and Distributed Energy’ Summit organised by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) in Abuja on Tuesday.
According to him, Nigeria is endowed with huge natural resources needed to drive the use of renewable energy; “what we have left is the political will, the commitment, the sincerity, and investment in infrastructure.
“For a country of over 200 million, it goes beyond solar streetlights, it goes beyond solar home systems. We want to achieve energy access, expansion, and vitality. It goes beyond windmill microgrids.
“We need huge solar projects that are nationally connected to the grid, this is the only way we can start feeling the real impact of renewable energy and the whole world will take us seriously.
As it is today, we are not taking any steps at all, we need to start taking huge steps, giant steps to ensure that we take advantage of our natural environment and bring our people out of energy poverty.
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“That is the only way we can achieve import substitution, that is the only way we can achieve export promotion by making energy available to local industries,” he said.
Speaking further, the minister stressed the need for the creation of conducive environment for the establishment of indigenous companies to manufacture equipment, including solar panels, stating that the continuous rise in exchange rate has made the cost of importing equipment high for Nigerians.
He said investors needed to be reassured of the government’s commitment through supporting legislation and sustainable policy statements that would demonstrate the government’s readiness to achieve its renewable energy mandate.
“We cannot continue to import solar panels forever. But we expect this to be cheaper than grid supply. The foreign exchange keeps going up and we are importing solar panels and batteries. So, where is the cost advantage? But when these things are locally manufactured and we use local currency to buy them, we will have a cost advantage. So, we need to establish a local industry to support this renewable energy sector value chain. That way we can have sustainability in this sector.”
In his remarks, Usman Garba, chairman of NERC, said the commission was working with stakeholders to support the development of a comprehensive national electricity policy and strategic implementation plan that would leverage Nigeria’s abundant renewable resources while promoting energy efficiency and sustainability.
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