Oscarline Onwuemenyi
08 October 2016, Sweetcrude, Abuja – The Federal government has announced that it has finalised plans to enhance the generation capacity of the energy sector to be met through traditional and renewable energy resources.
The government’s position was announced through the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) Action Agenda document that it seeks to increase Nigeria’s power generation from the current 3,000MW to 45,101MW by 2030.
Further to this target, the government stated it also expects renewable energy generation to reach 13,800MW within this time frame.
The document also declared that by 3030, the country would be generating 13,000MW from gas, 3,200MW from coal; 2,000MW from nuclear; 5,000MW from solar; 1,000MW from solar thermal; and 1,100MW from biomass.
The Director of Press Relations in the Ministry of Power, Mr. Timothy Oyedeji, revealed that government has adopted four documents, namely: National Energy Efficiency Action Plans (NEEAP), National Renewable Energy Action Plans (NREAP), Sustainable Energy for All-Action Agenda (SE4ALL-AA), and Nigerian Power Sector Investment, Opportunities and Guidelines (NPSIOG).
Oyedeji said these documents are expected to promote access to regular electricity in the country. He disclosed that the development of NREAP has received tremendous support from the European Union.
Oyedeji added that the German government funded GIZ, through the Nigerian Energy Support Programme (NESP), underscored by the belief that inefficient use of energy supply will increase environmental problems.
GIZ is an entity that provides services worldwide in the field of international cooperation for sustainable development.
“It can also compound the problem of access by large army of our population as it would be expedient to avoid investment in power in excess of actual requirement, because of scarcity of resources.
“The second document is the National Renewable Energy policy document, which is developed as a key element embedded in the current electricity reform, which hoped to radically increase the use of renewable energy sources in Nigeria,” he said.
He added, “This is premised on the fact that Nigeria will put into use its abundant resources in both renewable and non-renewable energy sources, as the country looks forward to capitalising on its economic growth potentials.”
