The recent approval by Britain of £16.7 million to scale up Nigeria’s power infrastructure is fulfilment to a promise made to President Muhammadu Buhari by 10 Downing Street last year, writes Correspondent, SAM NWOKORO.
Last year, when President Muhammadu Buhari visited London, on three occasions, the Prime Minister, David Cameron, made series of promises to him aimed at increasing trade flows between Britain and its former colony, Nigeria. One of the areas the Prime Minister specifically promised to help Nigeria is in the energy sector.
The promise was far from being a Greek gift, as one of the challenges Nigeria is currently battling with in her infrastructure upgrade programmes is the need to increase electricity supply.
Nigeria’s electricity sector has been characterised by poor service by the generating companies (GENCOs) and distribution companies (DISCOs). One of the factors blamed for the above is little or no gas availability. However, the gas Nigeria flares in the Niger Delta runs into hundreds of billions of standard cubic feet (SCF) yearly. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in its Annual Statistical Bulletin (ASB) for 2014, disclosed that oil and gas firms in the country flared 289.6 billion SCF of gas, representing 11.47 per cent of the total gas produced in the country that year.
Obeying the economics law of demand and supply, due to erratic supply, there is ‘crazy billing’ that does not reflect actual consumption.
There has been the lack of adequate development of the solar sector, though the country, with its proximity to the equator, has more access to sunlight than most countries of the world that have tapped into solar energy.
Investigation by TheNiche reveals that the problem with the development of the solar sector is the unwillingness of private sector players to exploit this technology for reasons best known to them.
However, some western countries have been trying to encourage African countries to invest in solar technology because of its environment-friendly nature, unlike thermal power systems that emit greenhouse gases (GHG) and which most African nations rely on. In Nigeria, not many states have embraced solar energy. And that is why Britain decided to partner with private individuals to begin a process of popularising solar energy consumption.
The Department for International Development (DfID) of the United Kingdom has just approved an additional £16.7 million for solar energy in Nigeria, to help scale up the market for solar power in Nigerian homes through to 2020, enabling millions of Nigerian households to experience reliable power for the very first time.
The pilot programmes in 2015 provided capacity-building grants of £1.5 million to 16 companies. In 2016, a financing pilot will provide £0.5 million in grants to mobilise the provision of commercial finance into the value chain for household solar light and power systems.
An additional 49,000 homes across Nigeria acquired solar lighting and power systems in just three months this year with help from ‘Solar Nigeria’, an innovative programme that helps solar suppliers and financiers scale up and allow households to access this equipment on full commercial terms.
The aim of the SolarNigeria programme is to scale up the private market for small solar lighting and power systems.
Solar Nigeria will help millions of Nigerian households (and micro-enterprises) to access modern lighting and power at lower cost than kerosene lanterns and small gasoline electricity generators known in local parlance as ‘I beta pass my neighbour’.
More than 14,000 of the homes benefitting are in Nigeria’s Northern states, where grid deficiencies and the need for reliable power are the most acute. All systems were accessed on full commercial terms, with the householder paying cash, taking a loan, or renting the equipment.
“Millions of Nigerian households could today save money while enjoying bright light and clean power using solar instead of kerosene lanterns and small generators. So why do they not already use it?
“They need someone trustworthy to make quality solar products available to them in their villages, and they need to be able to pay for it over time. This requires capable companies to invest in the market, to reach the customers, and to enable financing,” said Leigh Vial, head of consumer markets for Solar Nigeria.
Global recognition
SolarNigeria has won a top international award, thereby positioning the country to lead in solar power revolution, leading to a boost in power supply.
The project, a UKAID initiative, won the international award and scooped the top prize at the prestigious British Expertise award ceremony in London for its success in providing clean, accessible energy. The awards recognise outstanding international development achievements across the world based on which SolarNigeria was selected for its outstanding international development project.
Implemented by Adam Smith International, and co-funded by the Lagos State Government, the project showed that it had reduced over 20 tonnes of harmful Co2 emissions and provided solar power to 172 schools, and over 135,000 pupils in Lagos benefit from it. Over 121,000 patients also benefit from the project each year as the new solar power covers 11 primary healthcare centres across Lagos, according to a statement by the Head of Communications, Adam Smith International, Celeste Hibbert.