KUNLE KALEJAYE 18 August 20145, Sweetcrude, Lagos – The Lagos State Government has expressed readiness to partner with investors in implementing a framework that would harness its renewable energy resources.
The framework is expected to encourage and guide the development of renewable energy projects by both the public and private sectors.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Mrs. Regina Obasa, dropped the hints at a Community Enterprise Development Conference in Ikeja, Lagos.
Mrs. Obasa, who represented the governor of the state, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, at the event said Lagos, being the commercial and economic capital of Nigeria and a mega-city, required a lot of energy to thrive.
“Lagos requires adequate access to energy for economic transformation. It is one of the fastest ways to cut rural poverty, boost productivity and accelerate education and health outcomes, both in urban and rural areas,” she said.
According to the permanent secretary, Lagos required a minimum of 10,0000 megawatts of electricity daily but hardly get 700 megawatts from the national grid.
To address the inadequacy, she said, the state government was investing in independent power projects, IPPs, to take care of government offices and establishments, thereby releasing more power to Lagosians.
While decrying Federal Government’s ineffective policies in the area of electricity generation, she called for a legislation that would allow each state of the federation to generate and transmit its own electricity for its citizenry.
She also called on investors to take advantage of abundant renewable resources like solar, biomass, wind, hydro and tidal waves, given their low greenhouse gas emission coefficients and primary energy factors to ensure availability, accessibility and affordability to modern energy for economic and commercial activities.
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Local Government Establishment and Pension Office, Mr Ashimi Jamiu Adewole, who declared the event open, called on the Federal Government to put in place policies that would protect the intellectual property of Nigerians so as to encourage others to develop and build up infrastructures in the renewable energy sector of the economy.
Convener and Executive Director, African Women and Youth Organisation, AWYO, Mrs. Olayinka Elizabeth Adekunle, said the major objective of the event was to create a first-hand meeting with German investors and research institutes in Lagos to dialogue on possible areas of partnership and funding as well as identifying detailed means of using viable alternatives to help solve present and future challenges in the energy and agricultural sectors, thus ensuring food sustainability and economic security.