Sustainable energy access central to all Nigeria’s developmental goals–Osinbajo

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo says providing clean, sustainable and reliable energy access is tied to almost all Nigeria’s development goals.

Osinbajo’s Spokesman, Laolu Akande, in a statement in Abuja, said the vice president spoke virtually at the Global Inauguration of the Nigeria Integrated Planning Tool.

The Nigeria Integrated Energy Planning Tool was developed by the Federal Government in collaboration with Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), a UN initiative, with support from The Rockefeller Foundation.

Osinbajo harped on the importance of achieving net-zero emissions in line with global energy transition.

He spoke on Nigeria’s plan and actions on addressing the various dimensions, as well as the pathways and timelines required to balance emissions reductions with economic development.

“We have proven that transforming our energy system is a national priority through our Economic Sustainability Plan, and most recently President Muhammadu Buhari’s announcement at COP26 in Glasgow for Nigeria’s commitment to net-zero emissions by 2060.”

“Nigeria also faces other challenges, including lifting 100 million people out of poverty within a decade and driving economic growth, bringing modern energy services to the full population, and managing long-term job losses in the oil sector that will result from global decarbonisation.”

“We developed a set of scenarios in our Energy Transition Plan, which was done with support from Sustainable Energy for All. Based on these scenarios, we developed a roadmap to achieve net-zero by 2060.”

“The transition plan focuses on full electrification of the economy by 2060, including over 250 gigawatts of installed capacity, and a massive build-out of renewable energy capacity.”

“This requires a phased approach with credible milestones and targets and includes a solar-driven capacity increase on an unprecedented scale, which amounts to about 5 gigawatts per year through 2060.”

According to him, the transition to clean cooking will also require a phased approach.

He said it entailed a transition to LPG-based cooking, and over time, a longer-term transition to electricity-based cooking as networks improved.

On the cost implications of reaching net-zero emissions by 2060, Osinbajo said that net-zero 2060 pathway also required around 10 billion per year of funding over the next 40 years across the country’s economy.

He said that most of the funding would be for the power sector.

On Nigeria achieving universal access to energy by 2030, Osinabjo said that the analysis had shown that Nigeria needed an estimated 19.3 million new electricity connections across the country.

According to him, Nigeria needs over 11 million grid densification connections owing to population growth in settlements that currently have access to electricity.

“The tool also helps us decide the least-cost approach to achieving these targets, which consists of 5.4 million grid connections, 8.9 million mini-grid connections, and 5 million solar home system connections at a cost of 25.8 billion.”

On financing, Osinbajo called on the international community to support Nigeria’s transition efforts through realistic and much-needed climate finance commitments.

“While we put forward a comprehensive emissions reduction pathway with near-term and long-term actions and milestones, our ask is for a fair exchange in terms of commitments from development partners,” he said.

Also in attendance at the global launch were the UN Deputy Secretary-General, Ms Amina Mohammed, Mrs Damilola Ogunbiyi, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All, Minister for Power, Abubakar Aliyu and Minister of State for Power, Godwin Agba.

Others were Minister of State for Environment, Sharon Ikeazor, Mr Ahmad Salihijo, the Managing Director of the Rural Electrification Agency, Riccardo Puliti, Vice President for Infrastructure at World Bank, President of Rockefeller Foundation, Dr Rajiv Shah and other development partners.