OVERCOMING NIGERIA'S ELECTRICITY IMPASSE

NIGERIA HAS HUGE POTENTIALS FOR CLEAN ENERGY.

On what platform does Nigeria intend to build her industrialization plan without power? Building the largest economy in Africa with average power coming from the grid at less than 8,000MW has meant doing business with Diesel and Petrol Generators with huge environmental and health costs given the pollution that comes in its wake, but, it is believed that Nigeria can generate 600,000MW by deploying Solar PV panels on just 1% of Nigeria's landmass given the intensity of the Sun out here. Yet Nigeria only needs 50,000MW of Electricity to power production and augment healthcare, transportation, and lifestyle. BUT OUR LEADERS ARE NOT THINKING. SO, HERE ARE THE POSERS:

1. GAS TO POWER

In the fossil fuels category, natural gas offers us the biggest prospect for clean energy. Nigeria has the 9th largest gas reserves in the world estimated at a minimum of 182Tcf of proven natural gas reserves as of December 2012, yet our gas to power drive has been stalling because of Nigeria's defective Gas Policy, which is a big disincentive for investment. 

2. RENEWABLE ENERGY

Aside from Solar energy, wind energy is a big renewable energy source. Nigeria has 86th longest coastlines in the world and one of the longest in Africa put at about 853 Kilometres from the Gulf of Guinea through the bights of Biafra and Benin but Nigeria is yet to fully tap into harvesting the wind as a source of energy.

3. RENEWABLE ENERGY AS A KEY COMPONENT OF THE NATIONAL ENERGY MIX - MORROCO AS CASE STUDY OF A COUNTRY WITH A GOOD ENERGY STRATEGY.

Morocco has about twice the length of Nigeria's coastline with its total coastline estimated at 1,835 km. 34% of Morocco’s electricity comes from renewable sources and Morocco enjoys uninterrupted electricity. The drive by the Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energy is to increase renewables to 42% of the total energy mix by this year. Beyond meeting its renewable energy target, the Country is also planning for the future as it is investing heavily in Solar and Wind Energy. Morocco is building the world’s 2nd largest solar plant at the cost of 400 million dollars and is also building 5 additional Wind Energy Farms at the cost of 1.22 Billion dollars. When completed, these Wind Energy Farms will add another 850MW of Electricity to Morocco’s grid. 

NIGERIA NEEDS TO COME TO THE TABLE WITH A PLAN AND FOLLOW THROUGH WITH ACTIONS. TIME IS RUNNING OUT.