Page 5 - AfrOil Week 03 2023

AfrOil COMMENTARY AfrOil

“By using its abundant, untapped renewables,” China is by far the world’s largest manufacturer
IRENA Director-General Francesco La Camera of solar panels, and Nigeria aims to use solar
said, “Nigeria can provide sustainable energy for power as a way of achieving its target of a car-
all its citizens in a cost-effective manner. Nigeria bon-neutral economy by 2060.
has a unique opportunity to develop a sustain-
able energy system based on renewables that Export plans
support socioeconomic recovery and develop- While renewables are an essential part of the
ment while addressing climate challenges and future of Nigeria, the country is still a major oil
accomplishing energy security.” and gas producer on the African continent.
Abuja plans to increase exports and in
Energy transition September 2022 signed a memorandum of
Advancing the energy transition requires a shift understanding (MoU) with Rabat for the Nige-
and scaling-up of investments in the short term ria-Morocco Gas Pipeline (NMGP) project,
to avoid being drawn into fossil fuel infrastruc- which seeks to boost power generation and
ture investments with long lifetimes such as nat- provide energy for over 11 African countries to
ural gas pipelines. serve nearly 500mn people, According
By 2050, a significant reduction in the use of The construction of the new project has
natural gas and oil compared to planned poli- gained increased importance in the past to IRENA,
cies would have profound implications for infra- months because of the current global energy
structure investment in fossil fuels, increasing crisis caused by the Russia-Ukraine war. The investing in
the risk of stranded assets. $25bn pipeline project will help resolve the
The Nigerian power sector continues to energy accessibility issues in most of the crossed solar and
experience many broad challenges related countries. wind, rather
to electricity policy enforcement, regulatory NMGP will stretch over 1,672km, connect-
uncertainty, gas supply, transmission system ing Nigerian gas to Europe through Morocco, than oil and
constraints, and major power sector planning Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea Bissau,
shortfalls that have kept the sector from reach- Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, gas, will prove
ing commercial viability. Ghana, Togo and Benin.
Despite being endowed with large oil, gas, The pipeline project aims to contribute to cheaper in the
hydro and solar resources and having the poten- the development of critical sectors, including long run
tial to generate 12,522 MW of electric power food security, infrastructure, mining, renew-
from existing plants, on most days, Nigeria can able energy and human development. Among
only dispatch around 4,000 MW. other objectives are promoting regional inte-
This means that it is vulnerable to power cuts gration, advancing social and economic devel-
and outages, known across West Africa as “dum- opment, reducing gas flaring and exporting gas
sor.” Anyone who can afford it has their own to Europe.
diesel-power backup generator, which causes
higher carbon emissions and damages public Looking ahead
health in crowded cities. According to Dr. Adeleke Olorunimbe Mamora,
Nigeria recently announced a new National Nigeria’s Minister of Science, Technology and
Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Policy Innovation, policy integration and coordina-
in a bid to fast-track the government’s effort to tion is required for successful implementation
diversify the energy mix. This aims to promote of energy transition planning in Nigeria.
energy sources such as solar, wind, biomass, “The highly distributed institutional struc-
hydro and coal to power. It also aims to increase ture of the energy sector in Nigeria means that
electricity access to unserved and underserved coordination of policies will be essential to
pre-urban, rural areas or areas with difficult ter- unlocking integrated energy transition planning
rains as well as strengthen the existing partner- and ensuring its success,” Mamora said.
ship in the sector. “A cross-cutting agency or body tasked with
Speaking at the Fifth National Coun- doing so would be helpful in building consensus
cil on Power (NACOP) conference in Abuja and developing a coherent plan which in turn
in December 2022, the Minister of Power would allow for the scaling up of renewable
Abubakar Aliyu explained the country’s pol- energy to meet the needs across the Nigerian
icy and its “Vision 30:30:30,” which will see the energy sector.” ™
country add 30,000 MW of electricity by the
year 2030. The vision will also see 30% of the
country’s energy mix coming from renewables,
NewsBase reports.
At COP26 in Glasgow, Nigeria pledged to
achieve net-zero emissions by 2060. This com-
mitment was made by President Muhammadu
Buhari, who highlighted the challenges that cli-
mate change has posed for the country.
International cooperation in the renewable
power sector is also on the cards as Nigeria is
to partner with China to boost its green energy
generation, Aliyu revealed in November 2022.

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