Africa Nigeria Recommits to its 2030 Renewable Energy Target

Minister of State for Power Goddy Jedy-Agba reiterated the government’s commitment to achieving a sustainable energy target for all in 2030. He said the country had a sustainable electricity vision of achieving 30GW by 2030 with 30% renewable energy.

According to the Minister, the government collaborated with the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) under the Nigerian Energy Support Programme (NESP), funded by European Union, to conceive and develop the Nigeria renewable vision platform. This is to serve as a hub for data-driven electrification planning and implementation.

The objective of the project is to enable and foster investments in renewable energy, energy efficiency and data-driven electrification planning and implementation while increasing energy access. The federal government and Siemens have also signed an implementation agreement for electrification roadmap. The goal of the roadmap is to resolve existing challenges in the power sector and expand the capacity for the future power needs of the country.

“The Presidential Power Initiative (PPI) in Phase one seeks to modernise, rehabilitate and expand the national grid by investing in the electricity value chain, including generation, transmission and distribution systems of the power sector.

“Nigeria is ready because there is a clear policy on renewable energy and energy efficiency. Our Renewable Energy Action Plan has put that in place, so, we can say that Nigeria is ready for renewable energy and some projects have already been embarked upon, which are providing clean energy to Nigerians,” the Minister said.

The Canadian High Commissioner, James Christoff, said the country was open to more bilateral cooperation in the power sector with Nigeria.

According to Christoff Canada will assist Nigeria in achieving power sector transformation. “It is necessary for Nigeria to first create an enabling environment where economic incentives are aligned with goals. Our goals need to reflect broader commitments such as climate change, unemployment and economic development.

“It will take this kind of sustained, collaborative and broad-based effort from us to build a cleaner, greener future that improves lives and livelihoods. Along those lines, I commend the Nigerian government on the implementation of the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) Action Agenda in support of SDG 7, which seeks to see renewable energy contribute 30% to the available energy mix by 2030.

“The prospects of clean energy leapfrogging conventional sources are certainly within reach for Nigeria, particularly in light of rising diesel costs, and partly due to the increased market penetration of renewable energy solutions. This includes solar home systems, isolated and interconnected mini-grids, captive solar solutions for commercial and industrial customers, and more. With an estimated 85 million Nigerians without access to grid electricity, representing 43% of the country’s population, the opportunities for off-grid renewable energy are immense,” said Christoff.

NEWS SOUREC: ESI Africa