Power
By Anthony Isibor
THE Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, says that harnessing the country’s abundant natural resources sustainably to power the nation’s energy future is not just an opportunity, but a necessity.
The minister, who made the disclosure at the Businessday conference held in Lagos on Friday, added that Nigeria’s quest for sustainable development hinges on its ability to tackle the challenges within the power infrastructure.
Speaking on the theme “Powering Nigeria’s Energy Future: Addressing Infrastructure Challenges for Sustainable Energy Development.” noted that advancing Nigeria’s energy sector, is a cornerstone for the nation’s socio-economic growth and development.
The minister stated that sustainable energy development for Nigeria is not just ensuring a stable power supply, but involves creating an energy system that is resilient, efficient and environmentally friendly.
“It’s about utilizing our resources in a manner that meets our current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs. It is about fostering an energy ecosystem that supports economic growth, climate adaptability, and improved well-being of Nigerians.”
The minister enumerated some of the challenges experienced in the sector, which include unreliable gas supply and quality, inadequate generation supply, aging transmission network, inefficient distribution networks and recently a need for a diversified energy mix to achieve the Nigerian Energy Transition Plan ambitions of 30% renewable energy mix from 30GW by 2030.
He, however, explained that the government’s resolve to tackle these challenges has become even stronger with a clear vision to ensure a reliable, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly energy supply for all Nigerians.
According to him, the government has embarked on several strategic initiatives designed to enhance sustainable energy development both in the short-term and long-term aimed at transforming the energy sector.
Buttressing these initiatives, the minister said: “To address our generation capacity, we are committed to both enhancing current generating asset and investing in new power plants. Our focus is on harnessing the rich diversity of our natural resources, from hydro to solar and beyond. Recently, generation capacity to the grid has been expanded with the addition of 700mw newly commissioned Zungeru hydropower plant.
“We have also secured presidential approval to defray legacy debts to gas companies to allow efficient gas supply to the power sector going forward and a payment mechanism to address generation companies’ debts to ensure necessary maintenance are resolved and evacuation capacity optimization. With this effort, we aim to not only increase our generation capacity, but also improve the efficiency and reliability of our power supply.
“To ensure the upgrade of our transmission and distribution networks. We are actively working through the Presidential Power Initiative on expanding our transmission grid to ensure it can handle the increased load from our new generation sources.”
And to promote renewable energy penetration and off-grid solution, he said that the Federal Government was about to commence the World Bank Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up, DARES, $750 million facility to increase access to electricity for 2.5 million people through deployment of solar home systems and mini grids to households, MSMEs throughout Nigeria, educational and health facilities.
“This is in addition to the recently concluded $550m Nigeria Electrification Plan which has bridged the energy access deficit by providing electricity to over 1.1 million households, MSMEs, educational and healthcare facilities in unserved and underserved rural communities.
“We believe that the global shift towards renewable energy is not just an environmental necessity, but an economic one. Nigeria is blessed with abundant renewable resources, and we aim to continue tapping into these renewable sources to diversify our energy mix, reduce our carbon footprint, and ensure energy security,” he said.
And to ensure the sector’s policy and regulatory framework is aligned and enhanced, the minister disclosed that the government has commenced the development of a National Electricity Policy and Strategic Implementation Plan to provide a comprehensive framework for the nation’s electricity sector to support innovation, research, and development in the sector and chart a sustainable path forward in Nigeria’s electricity industry.
“The government believes that a supportive policy and regulatory environment are essential for sustainable energy development and the government is committed to creating policies that encourage investment, foster innovation, and ensure fair competition in the energy sector,” Adelabu added.
June 08 2024 @ 12:55 GMT
Tags: Adebayo Adelabu
