Since unrelenting fuel scarcity and power outages hit the country a couple of weeks ago, many a Nigerian has asked the natural question, where do we go to for energy? The situation is not funny, it is killing, biting, and damning! The President himself said our current power situation was no more a laughing matter. I agree with him. The only time I vigorously disagreed with him was when he said we should look towards nuclear power.
I say no to nuclear power because it is dirty, dangerous and expensive. We should rather be looking towards solar and other renewable energy sources. And, to be practical, we should plan towards actively participating in the upcoming Solar and Off-Grid Renewables West Africa, scheduled to take place in Accra, Ghana, between April 19 and 20, 2016. This is because the conference is a free-to-attend for energy users based in Nigeria from the following categories: food processing, agriculture, manufacturing, schools, hospitals, shopping malls and telecoms companies.
And for those seeking grant finance for renewable projects, there is an opportunity to meet with representatives of USAID/Power Africa and Power Africa Grantees at the event. Power Africa is supporting projects which benefit local communities and make use of wind power, solar energy, biogas, microgrids and energy storage. Funding of up to $100,000 per project is available.
Since the Off-Grid Energy Challenge was set up in 2013, USAID has committed some $5m in grants in nine African countries, including three West African countries – Ghana, Nigeria and Liberia.
The Nigerian winners were Ginphed Nigeria Limited, based in Cross River State; Quintas Renewable Energy Solutions based in Ofosu Community in Ondo State; Sky Resources Ltd., based in Nawgu community of Anambra State; and Topstep Nigeria based in Kaduna State.
Sky Resources received finance for a solar microgrid in Nawgu which supplies energy for up to 75 local businesses. Topstep have used solar to expand their maize processing capacity to 1,400 metric tons per year. The installation also includes portable batteries which farmers can rent to use in their own homes. In Yakowa Market, Kunak Community Healthcare Foundation is using a 7.5KW photovoltaic system to power lights, fans and refrigeration.
The two-day Accra conference and exhibition is a major international, top-level conference and networking event, which is a follow-up to last year’s debut in West Africa. It is quite timely at this time the developing world joined others to submit their individual countries’ Intended Nationally Determined Contributions at the successful Paris Climate Conference last year. I daresay the world eagerly waits to see how we fulfill our emissions targets. Naturally, at the core of carbon reduction is adoption of renewable energy in a green economy paradigm.
What is more, as the price of crude oil dips, Nigeria and other oil dependent economies must come to terms with a fast changing energy equation. The handwriting on the wall reads “Renewable energy for the future”.
Essentially, it aims to support and accelerate the deployment of solar and off-grid renewable energy in Africa, and break down the barriers to development – financial, political, technological – by bringing together key stakeholders, including investors, policy makers, developers, energy companies, financiers, NGOs, manufacturers and suppliers.
Attendees will meet government ministers responsible for future energy planning; hear case studies about how they can develop a solar project in the region; find out how they can set up a local manufacturing facility; hear directly about what kind of projects will get backed from development banks, commercial banks, export credit agencies, venture capitalists and insurance companies; learn what kind of equipment will be needed in the region and how can it impact a project’s bankability; hear about ongoing initiatives to drive forward solar development in West Africa; learn how utility-scale solar projects gain access to the grid; find out about new projects of many different sizes; and network with a powerful selection of government ministers, Chief Executive Officers, managing directors and other senior representatives meeting to do business.
Off-grid refers to not being connected to a grid, mainly used in terms of not being connected to the main or national electrical grid. In electricity, off-grid can be stand-alone systems or mini-grids typically to provide a smaller community with electricity. Off-grid electrification is an approach to access electricity used in countries and areas with little access to electricity. So, off-grid renewable energy supply is the use of renewable sources like solar and wind to power these units. Actually, these systems can be more cost-effective than connecting to the grid in remote locations. This is where Africa comes in, with her rural-urban area imbalance.
There are a couple of reasons why Nigerian public and private sectors should engage renewable energy at a time like this. For starters, ours is a country where more than 70 million power generators are in existence in most businesses and homes; and so we need off-grid renewable power supply more than ever before, to augment the meagre supply from government grid while fighting climate change by reducing carbon emissions that naturally emanate from the fossil fuel burning generators.
The Federal Government had announced plans to tackle inadequate power in the country with renewable energy generation to the tune of more than 2000 MW at the first phase; and the establishment of a National Science Park akin to America’s Silicon Valley to develop home-grown technologies including solar panels. These are jumbo-sized visions of which I have yet to see any concrete action to make a reality. To start the journey, we need more interface with regional and international solar and renewable energy markets.
Considering the intensity of sunlight in our resource-endowed country, there is no quantum of energy we cannot generate from solar power. The 4000 MW the government hopes to get from nuclear plant is a joke considering the risk involved in the project. As a matter of fact, experts avow that we can generate more than 6000 MW just from mounting solar panels on the rooftops of designated houses in the country today.
And, have you read the news lately? China is helping Pakistan build the largest solar farm in the world. The Chinese company, Xinjiang SunOasis, took only three months to install 100MW, 400,000 panel pilot power project – marking the first solar power plant in Pakistan. The plant recently started selling electricity to the grid. When the entire project is completed in 2017, the site will produce as much as 1,000 MW, enough to power about 320,000 households.
The solar park will also shrink Pakistan’s carbon footprint displacing about 57,500 tonnes of coal burn and reducing emissions by 90,750 tonnes every year. We too need such ambitious solar projects because of the promise they hold in pushing us forever out of the shameful power situation we perennially find ourselves in.
PUNCH
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The writer should get his head out of the clouds and come back down to reality. Everywhere in the world solar energy is subsidised it is not economically feasible. Natural Gas and Hydro electric power are Nigerias best options for clean energy all that fancy green peace approved wind power, solar energy is another useless subsidy large poor countries like ours cannot afford that will not even generate any tangible amount of power you might as well generate energy from 1 million potatoes.