Analysts say government must advance renewable energy option to boost economic development
With Nigeria facing serious energy crisis due to declining electricity generation from domestic power plants which are basically dilapidated, obsolete, and unreliable, analysts insist that the only solution to this current challenge is to channel strategic investment into research and development that will drive the utilisation of renewable energy.
Industry experts observe that lack of adequate investment for modern technological research and development, deficiency in human capacity constitutes barriers to the national renewable energy policy projection.
They are of the view that government must play a useful role in promoting renewable energy technologies by investing in research studies to establish potential in both urban and rural areas while also building capacity,
“In Nigeria 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,” states Anthony Agbongiarhuoyi, a Research Scientist.
According to the national policy on renewable energy, it is projected that renewable energy sources will contribute an estimated 20 percent of the nation’s energy needs in the next five to ten years.
But recent finding indicate that funding interventions by government in the area of research in some tertiary institutions in the early eighties are now in comatose as successive government failed to pursue such initiative.
According to a recent information sheet published by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) 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.
The report further indicates that 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.
Smart Amaefula, a climate change expert observe that there is high-energy loss due to the physical deterioration of the transmission and distribution facilities, an inadequate metering system and an increase in the incidence of power theft through illegal connections. According to him, “Nigeria has abundance of the vast oil and gas reserves, so also are abundance of renewable energy potentials, but the country still depends on alternatives that are still within the limits of fossil fuels, which are the only source that currently powers the nation economy”.
KELECHI EWUZIE