25th May, 2012
As the Nigerian economy continues to tumble due to poor electricity supply, experts and analysts yesterday excoriated the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Mr. Musa Muhammad Sada, for declaring that Nigeria would generate 30 percent of its electricity from coal by 2015.
Sada was reported to have made the statement in Lokoja, capital of Kogi State, Northcentral Nigeria, when he visited Governor Idris Wada.
“We are ready to partner with anybody who has the wherewithal towards the actualisation of that mandate. We can talk to such persons and they can talk to us,” he said.
But the experts and analysts who converged in Lagos, southwest Nigeria, for a two-day training on Renewable Energy Finance for Microfinance Institutions, argued that conventional energy with its high cost of exploration, distribution and pollution must be replaced by renewable energy and not energy from coal.
“I was surprised and shocked this morning to hear that the minister of Mines and Steel Development said Nigeria would generate 30 percent of its electricity from coal by 2015. This is not the way to go. This is not the way forward in this age,” said Mr. Olufemi Babajide, Lagos Chairman, National Association of Microfinance Banks, NAM.
“The whole world is embracing renewable energy, why are we going backward in Nigeria?” he said at the training organised by the Bank of Industry, BOI, and the United Nations Development Programme, UNDP.
“There is a need to replace the present mode of energy generation with what is acclaimed to be the best form of energy generation which is cost effective and environmentally friendly,” Babajide said.
In his submission, Mr. Lawal Gada, Renewable Energy Manager at the BOI/UNDP At RE Project, said the minister is wrong as energy from coal is not environmentally friendly and will be exhausted some day while renewable energy is permanent.
“The actual available capacity of electricity is between 3,000-4,000 MW out of an installed capacity of 8,000. This is against a current demand of 16,000MW and a plan of 190,000 MW by Year 2030. Despite granting 20 IPP licenses with a capacity for additional 10,000 MW, none of the projects have been realised due to various factors.
These conventional fossil fuels are not economical and have negative impact on the environment,” Gada said.
“The grim picture of the energy situation in the country has therefore called for innovative options to meet the demand.” The option to close the wide gap is Renewable Energy. Not coal as the minister said. Renewable energy is energy supply options from natural resources which can be replenished.
“It has been estimated that the potential energy that can be generated from these sources is about 600,000 MW. Yet, RE contributes less than 6 percent to the energy supply of the country. Finance and funding of RE project is almost non-existent,” Gada added echoing what other speakers at the gathering said.
The analysts called on the government to provide funding for renewable energy instead of wasting resources on anachronistic form of energy the entire world is hustling out from.
Mr. Adebisi Adedeji, who represented the Central Bank Governor, Mr. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, said the apex bank will continue to support renewable energy exploration and distribution in Nigeria.
—Simon Ateba