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Why Nigeria is changing to cleaner energy ― Osinbajo

Vice President Professor Yemi Osinbajo has explained why Nigeria is changing to cleaner energy. Nigeria’s plan is to reduce carbon emission by 20% by 2030 as FG commissions another university-based solar plant and this is in line with the globally endorsed Climate Change agenda and the Buhari administration’s effort to connect more communities to off-grid power and reliable energy sources, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN.

Professor Osinbajo stated this on Thursday in a message delivered virtually at the commissioning of a 1.12 MW Captive Solar Hybrid Power Plant at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi.

The project executed under the Energizing Education Programme (EEP), an initiative of the Federal Government, is aimed at providing 37 Federal Universities and 7 Teaching Hospitals with captive energy solutions that will ensure sustainable and reliable power for students and faculty.
According to the Vice President, “renewables are the fastest-growing segment of energy today and will certainly be a key economic driver well into the future.

“Indeed, Nigeria intends to have 30 per cent of its electricity supply from renewables by the year 2030. Our future workforce, therefore, needs to be ready for this energy transition. The training centres constitute a critical additional benefit of this project.”
Continuing, he noted that “besides, this programme reaffirms the Federal Government’s commitment to global best practice as we transition to cleaner sources of energy in line with the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

“These projects being implemented by the Rural Electrification Agency are strategic to fulfilling our commitments to the agreement as they strive to reduce Nigeria’s carbon footprint.

“The leveraging of renewable energy technology is in line with the Federal Government’s mandate and related activities. Nigeria’s plan to reduce carbon emission by 20 per cent unconditionally and 45 per cent with international support by 2030, aims to limit the damaging effect of climate change.”

Speaking on the benefits of the EEP, Professor Osinbajo said “already, 22,000 students and faculties across the country are connected to completed projects in Kano, Ebonyi, Benue and of course, now in Bauchi. But apart from providing a reliable source of captive power for these institutions, each institution will have a renewable energy workshop and a training centre to provide training for students on renewable energy.”

Culled from vanguardngr.com

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2021/02/why-nigeria-is-changing-to-cleaner-energy-%e2%80%95-osinbajo/amp/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&__twitter_impression=true

Eradicating the electricity problem in Nigeria

The biggest question in Nigeria is the question of having electricity to make activities go smoothly. Will the electricity problem in Nigeria be solved in 2021?. That being the question of decades in Nigeria, so many people have suffered the impact of the epileptic power supply. This condition is being felt in so many sectors in the country.

Health
In addition to the poverty in the Country, health poverty is a denial of the fundamental human right. Electricity is essential if the health sector anywhere in the world must run. Power is needed to store blood in the blood bank, sterilizing of equipment needs power. The clinical laboratories also run on power, attending to emergencies can only be effective when there is the power to light up and do the necessary processes. This is not what is obtainable in the Nigeria health sector. Darkness and heat are the order of the day in a typical health centre in Nigeria. This has lead to an increase in childbirth mortality. A study carried out by the World health organization stated that Nigeria is a country where nearly 20% of all global maternal deaths happen. Just between 2005 and 2015, it is estimated that over 600 000 maternal deaths and no less than 900 000 maternal near-miss cases occurred in Nigeria only. An alternative and sustainable way of getting electricity have to be sourced.

Education
Private owned schools with an adequate supply of electricity do well in general exams within the country than public schools even at tertiary level. It is only natural for a student with internet facilities to do extensive research. Students exposed to laboratory procedures because there is the power to run it will do well than the one not exposed to these facilities. Having ample time to study is also a function of electricity availability.

Food and Agriculture
Inadequate electricity has been aligned with food spoilage which has lead to food insecurity in the country. A study shown by we forum stated that 40% of the losses occur immediately after harvest and early in the supply chain. And this translates to more than $310 billion of food waste and loss annually- mostly because of inadequate refrigeration and unreliable and expensive energy supply. This study shows that power is essential and affordable power is very critical to eliminating food insecurity in Nigeria.

The national grid can be substituted with solar power in Homes and cooperate business

To totally eradicate the epileptic power supply, the National grid power supply needs to be substituted with solar energy. As unrealistic and fictitious it was in Nigeria five years ago it is now becoming a thing of the future. A study conducted by EORC tagged Energy consumption by customer group shows that in Nigeria, Residential customer makes use of 64% of the energy produced, 27% is being used by the commercial like transport e.t.c, while 9% is being used by industries. Another study shows that generating power privately using generating set is 50 times more expensive than using the national grid and using solar power is less expensive than using the national grid because it does not require maintenance cost and it is very affordable. Being crowned as the highest importer of generating set in 2011 did not come as a surprise because so many households and industries that need to carry out their activities really went massively for the generating set. The Genset Import/Export report by the United Nations Statistics Division states that; between 2010 and 2014, Nigeria imported 75 – 750 KVA generating sets worth $145,550,088 to power its factories, telecommunication towers, offices, and homes. This has lead to an increase in pollution in the environment. Air pollution is on the high side, this has increased the toxic component in the air, which has resulted in so many health problems and is making the environment unfriendly to inhabit. The incessant noise that comes with the use of the generating set is very annoying and inconvenient for people.

The logical way out of the electricity problem in Nigeria is switching homes and residential areas to solar power. Since homes and residential areas are the heavy users of power. Having them use solar power will be very beneficial to the people. Solar power is affordable and can power basic appliances used at homes, it reduces the expense of families in Nigeria. It also reduces pollution of the environment and makes the residential areas convenient to live in. Since the solar system for generating power via the sun does not make noise.

Solar power has been adopted by the Federal Government in some places in Nigeria with a positive outcome. In July 2017, two communities in Kaduna, Gnami, and Pakau celebrated 2 years of uninterrupted power from the 90-kilowatt Solar Photovoltaic (PV) off-grid system installed in the areas. Solar companies in Nigeria are doing everything they can to make solar systems accessible and affordable to Nigerians. Beebeejump solar is also doing well, she has given a forty thousand reduction in the price of its solar systems to make this festive season comfortable and enjoyable to spend with family.