Adaobi Rhema Oguejiofor

Power Generation Companies (Gencos) have said that Nigeria can generate more than 427,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity from solar energy.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Association of Power Generation Companies, Joy Ogaji, made this statement while making a presentation titled, ‘The Electricity Act 2023: Options for Renewable Energy Penetration and Role of Stakeholders,’ at a one-day workshop that was organized by the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Association-Alliance (REEEA-A) in Abuja.

According to her, the potential of renewable energy in Nigeria is huge as the country has solar radiation of 3.5 to 7.0 kWh/m2 per day, and 427,000MW can be generated in Nigeria from solar alone. Hydro resources are estimated at 14,750MW. Wind speeds of 2-5m/s with a potential of 150,000 TJ per year.

Ogaji, while explaining the current renewable energy situation in Nigeria, expresses that there was no renewable energy generation connected at the distribution, or transmission level, though there were targets.

In her own words, “majority of the energy generation are off-grid, solar home systems and rooftop solar, though there is no clear data. The cost of renewable energy in Nigeria at approximately $0.55 to $0.6/kWh is not competitive compared to utility, which is approximately $0.105/kWh.

“Achieving set targets with mini-grids will be a slow process. If 1,000 mini-grids of 1MW each are built, we will only achieve 1 gigawatt (GW).”

The Genco official, on the challenges in the renewable market, added that domestic demand in West African countries was too low to attract investments in large projects that benefitted from economies of scale.

She said that the lack of effective planning and monitoring has led to reliance on emergency rental plants, which further inflates costs and an imbalance in bilateral contracts for the purchase and sale of electricity, especially for deliveries beyond the borders, payment defaults of buyers, as well as the failures to deliver the electricity promised by several sellers.

“There is a lack of synergy in the regulatory frameworks of some member states. Differences in contractual arrangements and disparities in the organization of national markets are challenges. Lack of harmonization and standardization in operational, security rules, contractual provisions, and tariffs are concerns,” Ogaji added.