By Yemi Olakitan
Many people will consider the commissioning of the 10MW Challawa Kano Solar Power Project to be of little consequence for an area of electricity distribution served by Kano DISCO that receives daily averages of 250–360 Megawatt Hours.
However, this power plant, the first of its kind in Nigeria, is a game-changer in many ways, both in terms of significance and subsequent impact.
It is significant to note that this plant is currently the biggest grid-connected solar power facility in the nation. Additionally, it sends a clear and unmistakable message that large-scale renewable energy projects can be implemented successfully in the nation and points to expansion in the power sector.
President Muhammadu Buhari, a champion of raising awareness and reducing climate change, has also achieved a personal goal with the plant. He is a well-known supporter of biodiversity and a fervent proponent of clean energy.
According to him, the majority, if not all, of the security and socioeconomic challenges we face—from terrorism to banditry, hunger, and poverty—are caused by the destruction of the natural environment, whether it results from unchecked carbon emissions or from the destruction of natural environments itself.
The Challawa, Kano plant was built to produce energy that uses no fossil fuels, emits no greenhouse gases, and lowers air pollution.
The goal of the project is to supply the Challawa Water Works, the foundation of the city’s public water system, which serves a population of between 4-5 million people. It will also ensure an uninterrupted power supply for the streetlights in the state capital, enhancing security. The result will be to relieve pressure on the overworked power distribution to the Challawa Industrial Estate, the city’s second-largest industrial layout, helping to stimulate industrial production and encouraging other businesses to invest in additional capacity and enable them to reach full capacity utilisation.
In order to ensure local participation, local value creation, local value retention, and knowledge (technical) transfer, it is also disclosed that a local contractor must have a foreign partner and vice versa. The aim is for the industry to develop to a level of maturity where similar complex technical projects can be undertaken in the future without the need for foreign content.
During the construction phase, the project supported more than 2,000 indirect jobs in the areas of transportation, food and beverage, and hospitality.
This demonstration pilot project aims to encourage investment in Nigeria’s electricity industry. It wasn’t initially decided to use Kano. A different state among the nation’s numerous states in the sun solar belt was selected, but they lost this project due to their apathy and missed deadlines.
The Kano state government was ordered by the president to reply to the demands in a timely manner in order to fulfil an unchangeable deadline. The Presidency questioned if Kano’s government could respond in time. Thankfully, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, the governor, and Gawuna, his deputy, did not let down their supporters.
In just one week, the governor fulfilled a stringent condition for the President’s approval by sending him a properly registered Certificate of Occupancy covering a 24-hectare plot of land valued at N322 million at market value. The federal government has an ownership structure with an 80% share, Kano State has a 15% share, and Kumbotso Local Government has a 5% share. The power generated would be sent straight to the distribution system.
The Federal Ministry of Finance directed the office of the Accountant General of the Federation to transfer the authorised amount of N4.71 billion from the Development of Natural Resources Development Account to the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority, NSIA, on January 4, 2019, in response to a directive from the President.
Because he took the development and construction of this solar project seriously, the President selected the NSIA to be the funding and project manager. The NSIA is known for upholding the greatest environmental and social standards, and the President chose them because of their track record of upholding transparency. The good news is that the NSIA has, despite the delay, done its part by completing the project. The bad news is that the Covid pandemic and ensuing lockdown, as well as the currency fluctuation, adversely affected the project’s execution.
Kano, with a population of 15–16 million, is on track to surpass Lagos as the most populous state. In the seven years of the Buhari government, Kano has developed into the nation’s hub for rice processing, with over 60 integrated rice mills currently operating there. With this transformation came a burgeoning and insatiable desire for energy.
President Buhari will put Kano on the front lines of the fight against climate change with this commissioning. The President will start with Kano on Monday and continue with a major push for renewable energy to decarbonize the power sector and lower air pollution.
When all of these factors are considered, Kano will undergo a significant shift from a semi-arid state to a sun state.
