Oscarline Onwuemenyi,
with agency reports
17 November 2016, Sweetcrude, Abuja – President Muhammadu Buhari has announced plans to increase Nigeria’s on-grid power capacity to 30 GigaWatts by 2030 from the current level of about 5 GigaWatts adding that 30 per cent of the capacity would be generated through renewable energy technologies.
This is even as he disclosed that the 2017 capital budget would be a green budget that would reflect the country’s efforts at realising Nigeria’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) despite a drop in federal revenue.
He stated this at Africa Day in Marrakech, Morocco on the sideline of COP22, organised by the African Union (AU) in collaboration with Nigeria and Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS), with the theme: “Moving from Commitment to Action with the Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) and the Africa Renewable Energy Initiative (AREI).”
According to him, “We have developed the Sustainable Energy for All Action Agenda and the National Renewable Energy Action Plan (NREAP) among other policies that are contained in our Vision 30-30-30, with the aim to increase on-grid power capacity from the current level of about five (5) GigaWatts to 30 GigaWatts by the year 2030, with at least 30 per cent of this capacity coming from renewable energy technologies.
He reiterated his administration’s plans to launch the first Green Bond in the first quarter of 2017, to fund a pipeline of projects that were targeted at reducing emissions even as he pledged to attract private sector partnerships in addition to support from development partners.
The president noted that guaranteeing energy security and focusing on renewable sources remained a top priority of his administration by strengthening the policy and regulatory base of renewable energy.
“Our NDCs implementation plan for the power sector will be built on this progress, and include clear mitigation and adaptation priorities, which will also be the basis for project proposals that will attract innovative international climate finance.
The president who was represented by the minister of environment, Mrs Amina Mohammed, was optimistic that the submission of INDCs by African countries was an indication that the countries did not want to be considered followers or only the worst countries experiencing the negative effect of climate change but as leaders, reformers, and incubators of new ideas.
Buhari noted that Nigeria has unconditionally pledged a 20 per cent reduction in business as usual emissions by 2030 and a 45 per cent conditional commitment that could be achieved with financial assistance, technology transfer and capacity building.