….Renewable energy critical to tackling power crisis in the country- Stakeholder’s
The yearning for better and improved power
supply for Nigerians has been in front
burner for some time now, While determinations
are being made by subsistent governments to meet this all essential need, one
of the major hitches to power supply has been the damning activities of vandals
across the country.
It
is pertinent to note that the destructive works of this vandals has
subsequently brought the power generation to near zero in the past few months.
It
is against this backdrop of the worsening state of electricity supply in the
country that stakeholders and energy experts has stressed the need for
increased renewable energy in the nation’s power generation mix.
They
also called for a consensus on the right energy mix for the country and the
implementation of the renewable energy policy.Stressing that vandals can
only blow up the gas pipeline but cannot blow up the SUN which is a resource from
renewable energy
The
country has suffered a lot in the hands of this vandals and the economy is
bleeding as a result of their nefarious activities.
The
minister of state for Petroleum Dr. Ibe
Kachikwu, who spoke recently at the
National Association of energy Correspondent
conference on the topic: 'The Urgency of Now', revealed that about 3,000 cases of pipeline vandalism were
recorded in the country from 2010 to 2015 while the country had recorded 1,600
incidents between January and June this year, representing over 50 per cent of
the incidents that occurred in five years.
According
to him the incidents of vandalism that occurred in the previous years had led
to the loss of 643 million litres of petroleum products, amounting to N51.28
billion lost in 2015, while 850 million
standard cubic per day of gas has been shut in due to the Niger Delta crisis,
which has led to power outage exposure of 2,700 megawatts to 3,000MW.
The
minister further disclosed that the crisis has forced a drop in the country's
crude oil production from nearly 2.3 million barrels per day to about 1.56 million
bpd."In addition, the Niger Delta crisis has resulted in loss of lives,
high cost of operations, fuel shortages and environmental degradation.
The country
has in recent time lost over 2,100
megawatts of electricity in past few months as a result of vandalism of gas
pipelines and many gas facilities have been vandalised. Some of them include;
the Escravos-Lagos Pipeline ELPS A, from Warri which supplies gas toEgbin Power
Plant .
According to the Minister of Power, Works and Housing,
BabatundeRajiFashola, the attack on the Nigeria gas company’s pipeline
connected to Chevron Nigeria Limited’s facility at Escravos, “is costing the
country a whopping N470 million daily.”
He said: “This attack has impacted negatively on the
Olorunsogo Nigerian National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) plant with 600
megawatts capacity, as well as other power plants.
“The sabotaged gas pipeline which contributes to the
Escravos Lagos Pipeline System (ELPS) has led to a loss of 160 Million standard
cubic feet of gas per day (mmsfcd) of gas daily, at a cost of $2.50 per
thousand standard cubic feet. This loss means about $400,000 loss to the
country on a daily basis (N78, 800, 000 daily) in gas volume. This is in
addition to losses to be incurred daily from affected Power generation
($1,988,223 or N391, 680, 000 daily). The total daily loss to the country is
therefore estimated at N470, 479,931. Repairs of the damaged pipeline are
estimated as costing ($609,137 or N120,000,000).”
Continuing, he said: “For instance, available
records show that six incidences of vandalism from December 2014 to February
2015 which affected the Trans Forcados Pipeline (at Oben, Sapele, Oredo) and
Escravos Lagos Pipeline System (CNL) led to a loss of 1,100 mmscfd. According
to industry experts, a loss of 200 mmscd is equivalent to a Power reduction of
700MW.”
Unfortunately, the sabotage keeps crippling the
nation’s economy as the government continues to record crude oil and product
losses to vandalism. Consequently, funds need to be allocated to repairs of
these pipelines when they happen; between January and December 2015, it was
gathered that the NNPC spent N103.4 billion on pipeline repairs and management.
Furthermore, it is interesting to note that due to
the series of pipeline vandalism, Nigeria has suffered setbacks in meeting its
gas obligation to Ghana and other West African countries through the West
Africa Gas Pipeline Company. It was learnt that Ghana has already started
making alternative arrangements to get gas in order to provide regular
electricity, which has been epileptic for several months due to the deficit in
Nigeria’s supply. It is important that the government gets a grip on this
menace in light of the damage it causes the nation.
It is on this note that energy
experts and stakehohsers has canvassed seriously for renewable energy as
an alternative to sustainable power supply in the country.
For
the stakeholder’s renewable energy is critical to tackling power crisis in the
country.
In
a roundtable conference on Nigeria’s energy mix strategy and the future of
renewable energy organised by the Nigeria Economic Summit Group(NESG) in partnership
with Henrich Boll in Lagos, a Research Co-ordinator for Energy and Climate
Policy, OekoInstitut, Dr. Felix Matthes, while sharing the German experience,
said Germany had been able to significantly increase the use of renewable
energy sources such as solar power.
According
to him Germany had been able to increase
the contribution of renewable energy from 10 per cent in its energy mix to 30
per cent between 2005 and 2015 through on-grid and off-grid generation. Thus, renewable
energy supplied almost all of Germany’s power demand for the first time,
supplying 45,500MW out of the 45,800MW demand.
“Just
as Germany has a key piece of legislation called the Renewable Energy Act, that
is driving its energy transition, Nigeria has its own Renewable Energy Policy
that was launched in April 2015. Critical elements of both policies are similar
and my thought would be for us as a collective to set out to implement policy.
“Given
that there is so much going on in our traditional energy space, coupled with
grid issues, it is clear that we have to actively consider decentralised
renewable energy generation as a key to resolving our energy challenges.”
On
tackling the nation’s energy constraint,
there was a need to agree on appropriate total energy mix for the next few
years as well as the targets to attain the agreed mix. If and when we achieve a
consensus on the right energy mix comes the role that policy will play in
getting us to this destination, as well as the strategic plans to implement the
policy and a framework to monitor implementation.
Renewable energy is energy that comes from resources
which are naturally replenished on a human timescale such as sunlight, wind,
rain, tides, waves, and geothermal heat.
Renewable
energy replaces conventional fuels in four distinct areas: electricity
generation, air and water heating/cooling, motor fuels, and rural (off-grid)
energy services. Renewable energy is one of the means of tackling the global
challenges of climate change. It is now being seen by many people around the
world as a cost-effective development solution for developed countries and a
developing country such as Nigeria.
A report released by international development
organisation Oxfam argues that renewable energy is in fact a more affordable
energy source than coal for poor people in developing countries around the
world.
The report argues that as a result of the changing
energy landscape around the world, the decreasing price of renewable energies,
and the often remote location of the majority of people who don’t have access
to electricity, renewable energy may actually offer a more reliable and effective
energy source.
According to the report of Dr Simon Bradshaw, “Four
out of five people without electricity live in rural areas that are often not
connected to a centralised energy grid, so local, renewable energy solutions
offer a much more affordable, practical and healthy solution. In Nigeria, there
is rapid population growth, increase in industrial activities and more energy
is consumed, resulting in environmental pollution and economic difficulties.
There is need
for renewable energy resources utilization globally. For example, the country
has adequate fuel supplies (world’s sixth largest exporter of crude oil) yet
more than 70 percent of its inhabitants do not have access to electricity for
their domestic needs. Renewable energy penetration in Nigeria is still in its
nascent stage. .
Solar energy in Nigeria is majorly used in urban
areas for street lighting, while in some rural areas it is used for irrigation
project and water pumping.
The country
has a target in 2007 to produce 7% of its 2025 energy needs from renewable with
solar and hydro as the major priority
Nigeria has the potential to exploit its abundant
solar energy resources considering its geographic location around the
equatorial sun-belt. The country receives abundant sunshine all year round
ranging from 6.70kwh/m2/day in Borno State to roughly 4.06kwh/m2/d to
5.86kwh/m2/d in locations such as Calabar in Cross Rivers State. The Federal
Capital Territory has a daily horizontal solar radiation ranging from a high of
6.07/kwh/m2/d to a low of 4.42/kwh/m2/d during the month of August.
This level of solar radiation across the country can
support huge deployment of solar power infrastructures designed to primarily
feed in to the regional power distribution entities. The size of the area
currently occupied by the insurgents in Borno State can supply sufficient power
required by the entire country if well harnessed.
Despite the glaring economic constraints of solar
power generation, its limited competitiveness, a low capacity factor, in
addition to high cost of PV cells, renewable power sources mainly solar power
development can support peak time energy consumption and can add considerable
capacity directly to the national grid or embedded network of distribution
enclaves.
Worldwide investments in renewable technologies
amounted to more than US$214 billion in 2013, with countries like China and the
United States heavily investing in wind, hydro, solar and biofuels. In the USA,
the Obama administration has made significant progress at encouraging
investment in solar power under Power Africa Initiative.
Industry watchers have noted that, there is need for
the Federal government to look at existing policies on renewable, energy take
full advantage of it to boost her power generating capacity. This has become
necessary in view of its great roles to our national development. We all know
that the issue of power utilization is very sacrosanct to the socio-economic
and technological growth of Nigeria.
Also, it is good to observe that many electricity
consumers in Nigeria are now gradually shifting from high energy consuming
electric bulbs to low energy saving bulbs in most residential and commercial
outfits. Recently Kaduna state
government banned high energy bulb in the state.
It will interest you that in the power sector, a
reasonable improvement could be made through investment in renewable energy by
collaborating with relevant private organizations and international bodies. So Government
must play a useful role in promoting renewable energy technologies by
initiating surveys and studies to establish their potential in both urban and
rural areas.
Just like the Indian and Chinese governments which have
pursued vigorously policies to encourage deployment of grid connected solar
power plants ,ourdistribution companies (DISCOS) in Nigeria can procure certain amount of electricity from
renewable sources.
The use of renewable energy is renewable and
sustainable and will never run out. It is constantly being replenished from
natural resources. They have security of supply, unlike fossil fuels, which are
negotiated on the international market and subjected to international
competition, sometimes even resulting in wars and shortages. Renewable energy
facilities generally require less maintenance than traditional generators.
Their fuel being derived from natural and available resources reduces the costs
of operation.
Renewable energy business leads to job creation for
thousands of people involved in it. For example, if there are 80 utility-scale
solar energy projects that represent about 56,000 megawatts of new electric
power that will mean about 20 thousand permanent jobs. It is important that our
governments take steps immediately to extend and expand the renewable energy
sector of our country.
Renewable energy is clean and pollution-free and is
therefore a sustainable natural form of energy. Unlike the nuclear and fossil
fuels plants which belong to big companies, governments, or state-owned
enterprises.
Renewable energy can be set up in small units and is
suitable for community management and ownership. In Nigeria, this has
particular relevance since the electricity grid does not extend to remote
areas.
The use of renewable energy will go a long way in
providing light to many villages and semi towns. Solar panels used for
generating electricity The implementation of renewable energy technologies will
help to address the environmental concerns that emerged due to greenhouse gas
emissions such as carbon dioxide (CO2), oxides of nitrogen (NOx), oxides of
sulfur (SOx), and particulate matters as a result of power generation from oil,
natural gas, and coal.
A variety of renewable energy resources provide a
flexible array of options for their use. Emissions from fossil fuels, for
example, reach beyond the local and national levels to affect the global
environment and contribute to climate change. The poorest people often live in
the most ecologically sensitive and vulnerable physical locations. These areas
may be the most affected by the predictable effects of climate change such as
an increased frequency of extreme events, for example floods, drought, rising
sea levels, and melting ice caps. The risks facing poor people are often
increased by the unsustainable use of biomass resources.
Solar energy for instance has the greatest potential
to contribute enormous amount of low carbon energy in Nigeria through solar PV
and solar thermal process. It may be transformed directly into heat using solar
collectors or directly to electricity using solar PV cells. It is estimated
that when 1% of Nigeria’s land area is covered with a solar technology of 5%
efficiency, about 333,480MW of electricity may be produced at about 26%
capacity factor. This electricity generation capacity will be more than enough
for the country, up to 2050, that will conveniently support 11% -13% economic
growth rates as envisioned by vision 20:2020.
Solar energy is capital intensive but it is an area
we can explore to meet up with the energy needs of the Nigerian people. As a
developing country, we can start from somewhere. All Federal, State and Local
government schools, Colleges, Polytechnics, Universities and Ministries can
adopt the use of solar energy. This could be achieved by devoting a certain
percentage of their budget towards solar energy project. In the next 2 to 5
years, some improvement could be made that can take us to the next level..
There is no gainsaying that Alternative energy
sources are at present the only panacea that will ‘bail the cat’ as seen
practised by many other countries including neighbouring Kenya, Ethiopia and
South Africa which the Bloomberg New Energy Finance has confirmed is leading in
the renewable energy revolution in Africa, leaving Nigeria, the “Giant of
Africa behind.” Renewable energy sources are still the best and wonderful
option because they are limitless.
Energy crisis in Nigeria has become a norm for
several decades and is the bane of her economic development. There is an
extreme electricity deficiency in Nigeria and the causes of this deficiency are
related to financial, sociopolitical, and structural issues
As a matter of fact , Nigerians will not run out of
them as we may do the fossils fuels. Also, it is not only the declining levels
of fossil fuels that is the only major concern to make Nigeria adapt and switch
to the use of renewable energy sources, climate change, which is caused as a
result of carbon emissions and environmental pollution is drawing world
attention and forcing national governments to formulate policies that will make
their nations adapt to the use of renewable energy sources to cut environmental
pollution to a barest minimum, because global warming has become a major issue
and problem of the world today and in the future.
Nigeria need not be lagging behind in towing this
viable path that other visionary and proactive nations are towing to save their
countries from impending energy cataclysm.
Long-term investments in renewable energies like
solar and wind have the potential to contribute significantly to the
electricity deficiency.The theoretical framework of the energy policy outlined
by the Nigerian government seems promising, but there is a discontinuity,
however, between implementation and theory.
The Federal Ministries of Environment and Power and
the Energy Commission of Nigeria should implement their blueprints of renewable
energy technologies in at least, direct capturing of the excess solar energy,
abundant in Nigeria.
From the NIMET’s info sheet, Nigeria is endowed with
an annual daily sunshine that is averagely 6.25 hours, which is ranging between
about 3.5 hours at the coastal areas of the northern boundary of the nations
and also has an annual average daily solar radiation of about 3.5 KWm2/day in
the coastal area which is in the southern part and 7.0 KWm2/ day at the
northern boundary.
Nigeria receives about 4909.212 kWh of energy from
the sun which is equivalent to about 1.082 million tonnes of oil; this is about
4000 times the current crude oil production per day, and also put at about 13
thousand times of daily natural gas production based on energy unit.
Majority of Nigerians are not aware about the
environmental impacts and economic benefits of adopting renewable energy. The
public awareness of the renewable energy technologies is generally low.
Consequently, the Nigerian public does not have much
influence that will compel the government to formulate decisive policies and
initiatives that will enhance and promote the application, development,
dissemination and diffusion of renewable energy technologies and resources in
the Nigerian energy market.
The environment will surely benefit from the
elimination of fossil fuels, which will also boost most sectors of the economy.
This is where it becomes the business of the general public in Nigeria to urge the
government to divest to renewable energy to better the socio economic lives of
the citizens and enhance the economy of the nation.
