The Chief Executive Officer of Ikeja Electric, Folake Soetan, has said that Nigeria’s solar energy potential is estimated at around 6,500 Terawatt hours, TWh, per year, and it is currently higher than the country’s current electricity output at an average of 3,570 megawatts per day.
She added that Nigeria’s wind potential, approximately at 76 gigawatts, shows that there is abundant resource available for renewable energy generation in Nigeria.
Speaking at the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce, NBCC, Energy Group conference tagged: “Renewable Energy: Innovation, Transition, Opportunities and Challenges” in Lagos, Soetan said that renewable energy opportunity in Nigeria is vast and poses potential for the country’s economic and environmental transformation.
She stated: “If you look at our growing population and the increasing energy demand, the renewable energy sector presents a significant opportunity for addressing Nigeria’s power deficit, while reducing the greenhouse gas emissions’’. Nigeria National Renewable Energy and Efficiency Policy aims to achieve 30 percent renewable energy and emission by 2030.
Also speaking at the conference, President/Chairman of Council, NBCC, Mr Ray Atelly, said that there is an urgent need to, not only design, but also implement a large scale energy transition programs for many countries, including Nigeria.
Atelly said that by stopping uncontrolled deforestation and ecosystem degradation, we can see 5.9gt annually, adding, “Imagine the improvements we stand to have in our environment and our health if we simply cut less trees and allow plants and natural vegetation to live alongside our concrete mansions’’.
Source: Vanguard
