The need to embrace renewable sources of energy as an alternative source of power supply to drive the 10,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity by the end of this year and 40,000 MW by 2020 has been stressed at different conferences and forums.
While the global renewable energy industry is growing rapidly as investment in the industry is significantly increasing, Nigeria has yet to tap into its huge renewable energy resources to drive its industrialisation agenda.
Countries like Denmark, Germany and Austria are successfully moving towards 100 percent renewable energy. Denmark has committed itself to 100 percent renewable energy in the electricity, heat and transport sectors.
In Nigeria, renewable power sources such as solar energy, small hydro, biomass, and wind power, have been highly under-utilised.
Jochen Flasbarth, president of the German Federal Environment Agency, who spoke in Abuja recently, said Nigeria needs more electricity supply to emerge as one of the top 20 economies in the world by 2020. He added that Nigeria needs electricity through some fossil-based power plants which he said could be achieved through renewable energy.
Fossil-fuel power stations are those that burn fossil fuels, such as coal, natural gas or petroleum oil to produce electricity.
Nigeria is endowed with vast natural resources that could be harnessed as alternative sources of energy in order to decentralise the nation’s energy sources, but not much has been done with the abundant coal and renewable energy resources in the country to generate electricity.
When Hajiya Zainab Ibrahim, minister of state for power, in January announced government’s plan to generate 10,000 MW of electricity by December this year, she added that the government would embark on diversification of energy mix to include renewables.
FEMI ASU
