Augustine Aminu
The Canadian High Commissioner, Mr James Christoff, said they are open to more bilateral cooperation in the power sector with Nigeria.
Christoff, represented by the Deputy High Commissioner, Mr Teshome Nkrumah said Canada will assist Nigeria in achieving power sector transformation.
He gave the assurance at the seventh Nigeria Energy Forum (NEF) 2022 on Monday in Lagos with the theme “Energising Economic Growth and Sustainability.”
According to him, it is necessary for Nigeria to first create an enabling environment where economic incentives are aligned with goals.
“Our goals need to reflect broader commitments such as climate change, unemployment and economic development”.
“It will take this kind of sustained, collaborative and broad-based effort from us to build a cleaner, greener future that improves lives and livelihoods.
“Along those lines, I commend the Nigerian government on the implementation of the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) Action Agenda in support of SDG 7, which seeks to see renewable energy contribute 30 per cent to the available energy mix by 2030.
“The prospect of clean energy leapfrogging conventional sources are certainly within reach for Nigeria, particularly in light of rising diesel costs, and partly due to the increased market penetration of renewable energy solutions.
“This includes solar home systems, isolated and interconnected mini-grids, captive solar solutions for commercial and industrial customers, and more.
“With an estimated 85 million Nigerians without access to grid electricity, representing 43 per cent of the country’s population, the opportunities for off-grid renewable energy are immense,” he said.
Earlier, the Minister of State for Power, Mr Goddy Jedy-Agba, reiterated FG’s commitment to achieving a sustainable energy target for all in 2030.
He noted thay the country had a sustainable electricity vision of achieving 30 GigaWatts (GW) by 2030 with 30 per cent renewable energy.
The minister, represented by his Special Technical Assistant, Mr Gabriel Lorsase, said the ministry had ongoing renewal energy programmes and initiatives in place to achieve the target.
“This is to serve as a hub for data-driven electrification planning and implementation.
“The objective of the project aims at enabling and fostering investments in renewable energy, energy efficiency and data-driven electrification planning and implementation while sustainably increasing energy access.
“The Federal Government and Siemens have also signed an implementation agreement electrification roadmap.
“The goal of the roadmap is to resolve existing challenges in the power sector and expand the capacity for the future power needs of the country.
“The Presidential Power Initiative (PPI) in Phase 1 seeks to modernise, rehabilitate and expand the national grid by investing in the electricity value chain, including generation, transmission and distribution systems of the power sector.
“Nigeria is ready because there is a clear policy on renewable energy and energy efficiency.
“Our Renewable Energy Action Plan has put that in place, so, we can say that Nigeria is ready for renewable energy and some projects have ready been embarked upon, which are providing clean energy to Nigerians,” he said.
Also speaking, Dr Tinuade Sanda, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC), said the company had committed huge investment on construction, reconstruction and network augmentation.
Sanda, represented by Mr Aik Alenkhe, the Chief Human Resources Officer, EKEDC, said the company was exploring off-grid power supply options such as embedded generation and wind generation projects estimated at about 1,200 megawatts to improve supply to its customers.
She said the mission of the company was to improve the quality of life for all customers and stakeholders by utilising cutting-edge technology and innovative processes to ensure safety supply of electricity.
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