Epileptic power supply must end in Nigeria – Energy Alliance

Prof. Magnus Onuoha, President, Governing Council, Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Associations Alliance (REEEA-A), says it is time to bring an end to epileptic power supply in Nigeria.

Onuoha made the call at a news conference in Abuja on Monday, while presenting a nine-point communique from an international conference of REEEA-A held in Abuja.

The conference is themed, “Accelerating Private Sector Investment in the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Sector”.

Onuoha said the conference was held against the backdrop of growing concerns over cross-cutting issues of epileptic power supply and the need to transition into renewable energy.

He said, for 200 million Nigerians to depend on 3,500 megawatts was extremely deficient, adding that it called for more dogged measures for meaningful change.

According to him, part of solutions to improved power supply in Nigeria is funding of more projects with local currency.

Onuoha equally said policy recommendations were necessary to build social acceptance for Nigeria to use natural gas as transition fuel.

He further said there was a need for revenue assurances to support and fund large scale solar projects as well as payment mechanisms to support clean energy expansion.

The president said there was also a need for technical assistance and capacity building accelerator programmes for renewable energy entrepreneurs and developers.

Other measures to shore up power supply according to him are, electric vehicle opportunities and acceleration of investment in emerging green hydrogen space.

He further said there was a need to leverage on the Electricity Act by engaging the 36 states for integrated electricity to satisfy their needs.

According to him, drastic measures must be put in place to salvage power dependent businesses in Nigeria.

He said unless the gains of renewable energy were harnessed, a lot of power dependent businesses would close up in the near future.

“With the Electricity Act recently signed into law by President Bola Tinubu, the need to change the status quo has become imperative.

“This is considering that epileptic power supply has slowed developmental progress and killed lots of businesses dependent on power.

“For example, every year, Nigeria spends 15billion to 20 billion dollars to buy petrol for generators.

“That is an investment waiting to be catalysed by the energy sector,” he said.

Our correspondent reports that REEEA-A is an umbrella body for renewable energy associations in Nigeria.

It was established to foster investments in the domestic market, while advocating appropriate standards and improved access to electricity among others.