The Nation Newspaper

Tag: renewable energy

  • Renewable energy: YouLead builds SMEs’ capacity

    Small businesses rely heavily on generators to run their ventures as a result of irregular power supply in the country. This makes energy one of their highest cost heads, which invariably reduces their profit.

    However,  a three-day renewable energy financing training  organised for micro finance institutions, commercial banks and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Calabar may have set the stage for a reversal of this trend.

    Essentially, the training was aimed at increasing access to energy services and promote the use of other cost-effective sources of clean energy such as solar, wind, hydro, biofuels etc.

    The workshop, themed: “Assessing Credit Risk of Renewable Energy Sector”, was organised by Cuso International, Nigeria, in collaboration with USAID Nigeria Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Project (REEEP). Cuso International also implements YouLead project, while REEEP was being implemented by Winrock International.

    Delivering his keynote address, Programme Manager, Financial Inclusion, YouLead project, Mr Mark Akpan, said the workshop was aimed at building the capacity of SMEs and  financial institutions on renewable energy financing.

    He said this will enable them develop green financial products and services. He noted that green financing avoids the promotion of any business or activity that could be damaging to the environment.

    Akpan said: “Green financing allows banks to contribute to green growth. While green growth fosters economic development, ensuring that natural assets are used sustainably, green finance supports green growth.

    “While some of these green financial products are supported by government programs, many are led by private banks to attract customers looking to finance green initiatives.”

    A Consultant with Winrock International, Mr. IlanWolkov, explained that solar energy is a cleaner and very efficient way of powering home appliances,noting that the uptake of solar systems was very fast in Bangladesh through micro–financing.

    The Consultant added that micro finance banks in Nigeria can spur the growth of renewable energy sector by creating credit facilities for youths.

  • AfDB okays Africa Renewable Energy Initiative

    AfDB okays Africa Renewable Energy Initiative

    The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) has endorsed the proposal by the bank’s management to serve as Trustee to administer and manage the resources of Africa Renewable Energy Initiative (AREI), and also to host the AREI Independent Delivery Unit as requested by African Heads of State and Government.

    A statement from the bank said AREI is an Africa-owned and Africa-led initiative of the African Union. It aims at harnessing Africa’s abundant renewable energy resources to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, enhanced well-being, and sound economic development by ensuring universal access to sufficient amounts of clean, appropriate and affordable energy; as well as help African countries leapfrog towards renewable energy systems that support their low-carbon development strategies while enhancing economic and energy security. In so doing the Initiative will ensure access to energy while addressing climate change. It is indeed Africa’s bold effort at transitioning to green growth.

    AREI was launched at COP21 in Paris in December 2015 and is receiving strong international support from development partners who have committed to mobilising at least $10 billion cumulatively between 2015 and now to harness Africa’s renewable energy potential and expand energy access across the continent.

    AREI will have a governance arrangement consisting of a Board of Directors, a Technical Committee, an Independent Delivery Unit and a Trustee who shall serve as the Host of the Independent Delivery Unit. The Bank is grateful to France and Germany who have already committed Euro 6 million and Euro 2 million respectively to supporting the Independent Delivery Unit.

    The Bank will consequently host AREI as an Open Access Global Fund within the Bank’s Power, Energy, Climate Change and Green Growth Complex. As an Open Access Global Fund, accredited Implementing Agencies operating in Africa will be able to access the Fund. It will be functionally independent from the Trustee’s decision-making structures.

    The Bank’s New Deal on Energy for Africa is a partnership-driven effort. AREI will be a strong partner in ensuring that Africa achieves universal access to energy and that the share of renewables in Africa’s energy mix is significantly ramped up.

  • Green ambassadors creating wealth with renewable energy

    Green ambassadors creating wealth with renewable energy

    The Chief Executive of SMEFUNDS, Mr Femi Oye, is transforming his beliefs about a better world into action by raising young entrepreneurs who are passionate about living green and linking them with funds to help them start their businesses, DANIEL ESSIET reports.

    Worldwide, capitalists and investors are putting their money into small businesses where the owners are environmental friendly and reduce carbon footprint.

    While this is helping the environment, it is also opening  business opportunities for young  graduates and entrepreneurs  with green business ideas.

    One of  such entrepreneurs is the Chief Executive, Green Energy & Biofuels, Femi Oye. He is promoting safer and cleaner ethanol gel with a unique patented cook stoves.

    His firm has launched one of the largest and fastest growing cellulosic ethanol production and clean cooking programmes in Africa.

    He provides clean, low-cost alternatives to kerosene and other dangerous cooking fuels to many  homes.

    This enterprise has helped him to attract international funding to expand his business of construction and use of solar systems to provide   energy  across urban and rural communities.

    His approach involves the use of various rooftops and land used for solar energy production. Initial solar installations is less expensive. The  systems are also durable and pollution free, usually with a performance guarantee of up to 25 years, using a technology that produces no greenhouse gases.

    Oye is delighted that his commitment to safe energy  has been recognised. ‘Green Energy & Biofuels’ (Nigeria) was  named the best clean energy investment opportunity in West Africa and  winner at the West Africa Forum for Clean Energy Financing Business Plan competition in Accra in 2013. The competition assessed business plans from all clean energy sectors across the sub-region.

    His firm has recruited over 15,000 entrepreneurs through its Carbon Credit Network and helped them start green businesses that sell the cooking gel and stoves across Nigeria and West Africa.

    The firm continues to explore a diversified portfolio of renewable energy projects across geographies and technologies.

    So far, more youths and women are ready to bring safer, stable green energy to their communities.

    To this end, he has established a green funds programme to help new businesses access cheaper loans for green projects  as well as, a reasonable return for investors and benefits for the environment.

    Green projects, he said, applies to projects that have a positive effect on nature and the environment.

    According to him, entrepreneurs who embark on projects that are  environmentally friendly can access funds provided by organisations and individual investors. Applications, he explained, would be assessed by experts and low carbon investment professionals.

    Projects are judged against a range of criteria, including the ability to cut the cost of technologies, future carbon savings and commercial viability.

    For a project to be eligible for green project status, Oye said it must provide a significant and immediate environmental benefit. Such projects cover a broad range of activities, from high-tech environmental innovation to low-tech agricultural projects with low carbon  print.

    The funders will check to ensure the projects meet  all the conditions of a green project.

    He explained that companies involved in organic farming, emphasising agricultural nature management and other agro based projects exploring biomass power supply system can benefit from foreign grants.

    The green investors, he explained, also support projects to generate sustainable energy. For instance, led bulbs business for home lighting or using waste heat for farms also comes under the scheme.

    According to him, the international funding is meant to give small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) a vital boost to drive forward the development of a range of innovative low carbon designs, helping cut costs and bringing new technologies to market.

    He told The Nation that young entrepreneurs would be supported with grants for technologies that could reduce carbon emissions and energy from waste.

    He explained that his organisation has established   the Green Ambassadors Programme centers around a six-month  entrepreneurship training  programme.  Participants learn about the green economy and the opportunities it  offers, participate in structured skills training, and experience an incredible, outdoor summer. The programme also offers grants and support to explore opportunities after the training is completed.   Grants are provided for young graduates to invest in green  projects focusing on proven technologies such as biomass, solar and small-scale biofuels refining  across the country.

    He sees  the ambassadors are partners in promoting solutions to the world’s most critical energy issues and challenges.  The mission of the ambassadors is to harness renew-able energy and convert into higher value products, ultimately leading to Improved environmental and community health. According to him, the ambassadors will be helping homes and businesses to reduce energy costs, implement building efficiency technologies, renewable energy systems, and communities go green.

    Oye cited that the pace has been enormous and that the share of clean energy would continue to grow in Nigeria. He estimated that over time, the traditional power sector would see significant changes with increased smart use of solar power  consumption.

    For him, clean energy infrastructure can provide a security of supply that no fossil fuel equivalent can offer. This makes them attractive not only to governments but to institutional investors seeking visible and consistent returns over a long period of time. By their nature, clean energy infrastructure assets are environmentally superior to other available options. They will also help Nigeria meet its obligations under the climate change protocols.

    He said a lot of international funding sources were opening up, following global efforts to tackle climate change, and social investors were ready to support SMEs get their projects off the ground.

    According to him, through climate change has presented a gigantic threat, it  has also created a big  economic opportunity with  many  entrepreneurship ventures to  develop a green economy that creates jobs in the process.

    He highlighted the scale of opportunity in the green economy, calling for businesses with  emerging technologies and promising start-ups to come in and take advantage of such funds.

    According to him, emerging energy entrepreneurs funds  offer opportunities  for businesses of all sizes to access funding to develop exciting new innovations.

    Oye, also Chief Executive, SMEFunds, will receive N50 million (about $300,000) of funding for its clean energy work supporting households and SMEs through Ecobank Limited.

    Funding from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), distributed through Ecobank, will go towards helping support two of SMEFunds’ clean energy initiatives – Cellulosic Bio Ethanol Gel for Clean Cook Stoves, and Pay-As-You-Go Solar Smart Mini-Grid Electricity projects.

    Both are aimed at ensuring clean, safe and affordable energy for more than one million low income SMEs and households across Nigeria.

    SMEFunds’ green projects, Green Energy & Biofuels and Gosolar Africa Limited have reached more than 500,000 customers in households and SMEs over the last three years.

  • Nigeria can’t stop crude extraction for renewable energy, says Ayade

    Nigeria can’t stop crude extraction for renewable energy, says Ayade

    •Minister: we’re committed to emission reduction 

    Cross River State Governor Ben Ayade said yesterday that calls by some developed countries to end fossil fuel extraction as a way of mitigating against climate change will be harmful to the Nigerian economy.

    He spoke at the sidelines of the ongoing 21st Conference of Parties to the United Nation’s Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Paris, France. The governor, who is also the president of African Governors Forum on Climate Change, said the use of renewable energy must follow the pace of development by developing nations, whose economy depends on oil.

    Ayade’s position differs to that of many developed countries that canvassed for an end to fossil fuel extraction.

    Also, many civil society organisations have identified “big oil” as a primary cause of climate change.

    But Ayade, who is also a professor of Environmental Science, said without alternatives, Nigeria would continue to develop her fossil fuel economy, but with controlled measure.

    This, he said, would ensure that those who depend on the oil would continue to be protected without the huge exposure of the atmosphere to hydrocarbon.

    His words: “Renewable energy is not the way for Africans at this point in time. Renewable energy means put an end to the sale of your hydro carbon, it means Nigeria should stop exporting crude oil.

    “But they are busy doing research, inventing technology, using solar energy and wind power. When all of that happens, when the oil price goes down, when you stop producing oil, what are you going to use as an alternative?

    “The misbalancing of the livelihood; what is the alternative to that? Renewable energy must follow with development and it must follow with technology. Africa cannot be in a haste to adopt renewable technology.”

    The governor decried the attitude of African countries, where anything adopted in the West is copied without adequate reflection and whether it works for the African environment.

    “We must go in pace with our own technology at our pace and that is the problem we have also taken into politics. We practice presidential system of government that is being practiced by advanced western world, who have 200 years of democracy,” he said.

    The governor explained that taking the hydrocarbon out of the soil is necessary to avoid natural disasters.

    “When you talk about renewable energy, it is complaining against the economy of developing countries. Don’t forget, as we refuse to take off the hydrocarbon, geothermal pressure occurs in the sub soil and in the span of years, volcanic eruptions will naturally occur. So, you need to actually take them out.

    “You must have controlled utilisation and the focus will be if you are taking off hydrocarbon, can you plant more trees, particularly carnivorous species like pines and oak trees that have the capacity to take off the carbon dioxide? I would rather have you use fossil fuel with mitigative measures than to cap it and focus on renewable energy. While that technology works for them, it is harmful for our economy,” he said.

    The governor decried the beggarly attitude of African countries, saying Africa has a key resource in her forests, which must be developed to conserve carbon.

    He added that this year’s Calabar festival will have climate change as its theme. The governor explained that it is aimed at calling attention to the issue of a changing world.

    Minister of Environment Mrs. Anima Muhammed yesterday said Nigeria is determined to reduce hydrocarbon emissions in 2030 by 20 per cent, rising to 45 per cent with the support of the international community.

    The country, she said, is committed to an economic transformation that would put green growth at the core.

    Mrs. Muhammed yesterday made the declaration at a High Level Meeting of Ministers at the Climate Change talks

    She said Nigeria was ready to take actions that would address the global climate change.

    Some of these actions, the minister added, were already embedded in Nigeria’s Intentional Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC), which is an instrument used by countries to make pledges on how to reduce carbon emission.

    The minister told world leaders that Nigeria was aware of the disastrous effect of climate change, a point, she added, was well made during the 2012 flooding that displaced more than 2.1 million Nigerians.

    She said the Lake Chad in the Northeast of the country was no longer more than 10 percent of its original size, leaving millions of people who depended on it for their livelihood in poverty.

    She reinstated Nigeria’s position on climate justice to achieve a human-centered approach towards safeguarding the rights of the most vulnerable, including women and children.

    “Paris must give us an agreement that will equitably promote climate change mitigation, adaptation and resilience based on effective means of implementation through adequate financing, technology transfer and capacity development.”

     

  • Raising renewable energy entrepreneurs

    Raising renewable energy entrepreneurs

    With the energy shortage in the country, agro entrepreneurs are tapping biomass resources such as cattle dung and poultry waste for generation of biogas. This will create a new generation of rural  entrepreneurs and industrialists with bias for biogas based energy infrastructure, DANIEL ESSIET reports.

    Biogas energy  is  using  animal  waste to generate  electricity. This  development is   bringing about a better quality of life to many  Nigerians and  creating  business  opportunities.

    Experience in Ibulesoro Community, Ondo State, has   demonstrated both its resilience and viability. A  biogas plant located in the  community has not only reduced   greenhouse gas emissions, it has also  created   a  potential business opportunity  for  entrepreneurs  to  supply biogas digesters  to  people  who  want to generate electricity   at affordable cost.

    Usually, if the business booms, many contractors and dealers in spare parts and appliances will  benefit. At the end, viable local entrepreneurs will emerge.

     

    •Abiodun
    •Abiodun

    The  Coordinator,  West Africa Agricultural Productivity Programme (WAAPP-Nigeria), Federal  College of Agriculture, (FCA) Akure,Ondo State, Dr  Adeeko Abiodun,  told The Nation, that  biogas is a very attractive option for both the economy and  for households.The  biogas plants, he  said,  could  serve a household  for 20 years. There are plants,he  disclosed   that can last for 100 years.

    According to him, the   operation of a biodigester, consists mainly of feeding the installation with a mixture of dung and water.  The biogas digesters convert animal dung into combustible biogas. Once completed, units are filled with cow dung, which is then left to ferment. This produces methane gas which can be piped into the resident’s house , thus providing the house with a supply of energy for cooking, heating, and other tasks. With manure being deposited directly into the digester, the farmyard is no longer littered with animal droppings, so hygiene immediately improves.

    Abiodun  said  operators of the  gas plants can use  either   cow dung or  poultry droppings. The droppings would  be   put into a sealed tank called a digester, where they are heated and agitated. In the absence of oxygen, anaerobic bacteria consume the organic matter to multiply and produce gas that can fuel a generator.

    With more biogas units being installed, a range of entrepreneurial enterprises will be established. These vary from animal rearing, to vegetable growing and selling.

    For Abiodun,  it is a win-win situation. While allowing homes to generate power, it helps  farmers  to monetise waste. On the whole,  biogas programmes are profitable even when the overall cost of the programme is taken into account.  With no more time and effort going into fuel gathering, and with the extra income from emission, operators   find that they have a lighter workload.

    According to him, entrepreneurs are going to sniff an opportunity to make money. The use of  biogas plants  to  power local  households is  opening  an  opportunity  for  rural  entrepreneurs.  Many rural households that do not have access to electricity are going to team up to purchase biogas.

    With the efforts made by WAAPP, and FCA, there are possibilities of entrepreneurs exploring the range of possible value-added  bio-based products, among which are  bio-fuel and bio-plastics.

    For this reason, many entrepreneurs are going to be experimenting with biogas plants to produce electricity and power for  small business units.

    Biogas production will not only make households less vulnerable to energy shocks, but will radically improve their economic prosperity.  According to him, biogas technology has a huge potential and its plants can produce gas for lighting, electricity for power generation. Opportunities are going to open for  intermediaries to  collect cow dung or poultry wastes from farmers and  sell to biogas plant owners, who do not have enough cows or poultry.

    According to him, the  project  will  convince the rural people that renewable energy technologies provide a workable solution to their energy problems.

    On the prospect, Abiodun  said the  school  has made success in bio gas the cornerstone of its renewable energy technology programme.

    He said the school is training and developing technicians to market, install, repair, and maintain biogas for their rural customers.

    Meanwhile, the World Bank, in collaboration with the WAAPP and the University of Abuja, has inaugurated a biogas facility that would help generate electricity for residents in rural communities.

    The biogas facility, which was developed by the University of Abuja, was donated by the World Bank/WAAPP to residents of Kilankwa II Village in Abuja.

    Speaking at the inauguration of the facility, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Michael Adikwu, said the facility would not only help residents generate electricity but would also serve as a power source for their stoves.

    “The biogas facility generates gas which could be used to power stoves and light so that they (residents) can have electricity,” he said.

    Explaining how the facility works, the professor said the technology was based on the use of waste that could be converted to energy.

    He said: “If well constructed, the biogas facility can last for a 100 years as long as the amount of dung and water level in it is appropriate. This will help residents keep their environment clean because all residues that would have been regarded as waste can now be used to generate electricity and gas for cooking.’’

  • Renewable Energy Society seeks shift in power generation

    Renewable Energy Society seeks shift in power generation

    The Renewable and Alternative Energy Society of Nigeria (RAESON) has called on the Federal Government to move away from dependence on one source of power generation if it wants to increase power in the country.

    The association said that power is the foundation for sound economic growth of any country that wants its citizens to have quality standard of living.

    Speaking at its 5th annual conference at Gregory University, Uturu (GUU), Abia State, the President of RAESON, Prof. Chidi Akujor, said his members were ready to partner with the government to solve the energy problem of the country and move the economy forward.

    Akujor said his association believes that a solution to the electric power challenges will require the inclusion of renewable energy in the nation’s energy mix.

    He said: “We agree that Nigeria has a lot of energy, like oil, gas and solar radiation, among others more than some countries yet we lack electric power, which we need to change.”

    The RAESON boss said that there was need for alternative energies in ameliorating the country’s energy challenges and reduce the over-dependence on oil and gas as the main source of power.

    Akujor lamented constant erratic and inadequate power supply, stressing that it has affected the setting-up and maintenance of critical strands of national infrastructure. He said there are 60 per cent of Nigerians who do not have access to electricity and most of them do not make use of alternative energy, such as solar, wind or biomass.

    In his address, the Chancellor Gregory University, Dr Gregory Ibeh, said the reason for RAESON to be the new face of energy in the country is that the Society will go a long way in putting the country on the part of success.

    Ibeh said there was need for alternative energy in the country because there are numerous resources to produce alternative energy, stressing that such resources could be tapped with less expenses for the benefit of all.

    He said: “The world is talking about alternative energy for its people and economic development, so Nigeria cannot be left behind. There are wind storms everywhere in the country. There is need for the engineers in the country to come together to harvest wind for energy generation for the improvement of the economy.”

    Ibeh said the reason for the failure of the power sector under the government of President Goodluck Jonathan was because gas pipelines were vandalised by vandals and oil thieves.

    He noted that alternative energy is the best thing that would happen to the society, stressing that they are environment-friendly unlike fossil fuels.

     

  • FG targets 20 power supply from renewable energy

    FG targets 20 power supply from renewable energy

    The Federal Government has targeted to meet 20 per cent of the country’s electricity demand from renewable energy by 2020, said the Director General, Energy Commission of Nigeria ((ECN), Prof. Eli  Jidere Bala Tuesday.

    He also projected that by 2030, the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) would have doubled its power generation target from renewable energy.

    He spoke at the opening ceremony of the two-day National Energy Summit which ECN organized in Abuja.

    Speaking, the Minister of Water Resources, Mrs. Sarah Ochekpe, who was represented by Mr. Nicholas Madu said that “water has been identified as a cross-cutting resource that impacts on several related sectors of human life. Apart from the fact that no living organism can exist without some form of water, the impact of water resources is felt in the health, agriculture, transportation, hydropower and sustainable environment.”

    She added that hydro power has been judged to be one of the best options in renewable energy development across the world and Nigeria is noted to have the potential to generate over 20,000MW of power from its hydro resources.

    Nigeria, said Ochekpe, also has about 200 existing dams of various capacities located across the country within the purview of the ministry.

    She noted that the dams collectively store a large portion of water that flows across the country annually and is estimated to be about 11.8billion m3.

    In his goodwill message, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Aminu Wali noted that Nigeria presently has cooperation on Energy with countries such as Germany, United States of America, Jamaica and Romania.

    He revealed that the relationships have witnessed the presence of foreign energy companies such as General Electric Company of USA and Deutsche Gesellschaft fut International Zusammenarbeit (GIT) of Germany in the energy sector of economy.

    According to him, the Transformation Agenda of a president Goodluck Jonathan has achieved the commitment of General Electric Company to deliver 1000Mega Watts to Integrated Power Producers (IPPs) over 10 years and the expansion of the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP).

  • Renewable energy: Govt ends survey of solar power sites

    Renewable energy: Govt ends survey of solar power sites

    There may soon be stable power supply through the use of solar energy.

    The Federal Government has conducted a survey using a Global Positioning System(GPS) to determine the  sites where solar equipment will be installed to improve the off-grid transmission of electrcity.

    The government used a space-based satellite navigation system to determine the topography of the country’s land mass of 923,678 square kilometres, its weather conditions, areas where solar facilities, such as poles and panels, can be erected to maximally make use of the sun for power generation, among other benefits.

    The study revealed that the government and private firms want to explore the opportunities in solar power, which experts say, is a better source of renewable energy.

    The reason is that Nigeria has a huge sun density, and it is yet to tap into the opportunities available in coal, bio-mass, wind and other renewable energy sources.

    The Special Adviser to the Minister of Power on Investments, Finance and Donor Relations, Olajuwon Olaleye, said the government had contracted two foreign companies to provide a detailed description of the country’s topography.

    He did not name the firms.

    Olaleye said: “We are working with two companies that did the whole solar map or Global Positioning System (GPS) of Nigeria.The map shows areas that are corrosive and those that are not.They are at the dimension where all the sub-stations and transformers are.The companies are working to situate the map well.They have done all these for companies that want to invest in solar to use.

    “When you want to provide a solar form of electricity, you need to know the corrosive nature of the land. Facilities would be deployed in the 774 councils, as part of efforts to provide energy. Nigeria is endowed with natural soruces of generating energy, and it’s working towards achieving success in that area. That is why the government wants to provide a Renewable Energy and Efficiency Policy.’’

    He said the Federal Government, through the Ministry of Power, was working with the states on how to acquire land and deploy facilities in solar projects.

    Olaleye said getting the land approval from the state governments was crucial to the implementation of solar energy initiatives in Nigeria.

    ‘’Regarding the renewable energy system, Nigeria is endowed. The country has a lot of natural resources that can be used to generate eletricity.Efforts are being geared toward achieving that objective. The government believes in maximising the potential in the on-grid  and off-grid transmission of electrcity to achieve results. While on-grid has to do with the electricity generated from hydro and turbines means and subsequently pass through the national grid, the off-grid relates to power generated through the sun,wind and other natural sources.’’ Olaleye added.

    Officials of the German Development Bank, during a visit to Nigeria,  said the bank earmarked $200 milion for the development of renewable energy   in the country.

    The leader of the delegation, Renate Von Bodden, said the German government would continue to support the various energy-related initiatives in Nigeria.

    The development is line with the Federal Government’s decision to introduce and implement energy mix programmes and further improve power supply.

  • ‘How to solve power problem’

    A renewable energy campaigner, Prince Adekola Timothy Okedele, has urged Nigerians to embrace renewable energy technologies to address the power problem.

    Speaking in Lagos after a  tour of some Southwest states on the need to adopt alternative power sources.

    Okedele said a state of emergency would be declared in  power sector to reap the fruits of the unbundling of the sector.

    He said in 2012, his company to support renewable energy actualisation, advised the Bank of Industry (BoI) to finance its renewable energy sensitisation, adding that the BoI and the United Nations Development Programme (BOI/UNDP), support about 30 small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) in renewable energy promotion.

    Wondering why his firm did not benefit from that grant, he said it had become necessary for the bank to make public the criteria for benefiting from such grants.

    He explained that the grant would have catalysed moves that would have led to the invitation of some of his technical partners that have superb global records in renewable energy development, installation as well as energy saving technology.

    Okedele, however, lauded BoI for assisting the beneficiaries of the scheme in 2012, pointing out that such grants should continue.

    He said he promoted renewable energy technology in Nigeria on self- finance since 2010. He urged the government to abolish obsolete policies, which hinder smooth public-private partnerships, adding that such policies constitute bureaucratic impediments to getting grants for research and development from the government. These policies slow down the wheel of economic progress, he added.

    The ex-Customs officer, who was in South Korea to participate at  last year’s Energy and Technology Exhibition (ENTECH), said a new vista of opportunities iwas opened for Nigerians to be part of ENTECH 2014 and International Symposium on Alcohol Fuels (ISAF).

    He condemned a situation where good proposals meant to develop a sector as significant as power, are left untreated for as long as three years in an administration with just four’s years tenure. He emphasised the need for all hands to be on deck to accelerate development.

    He advised government agencies and ministries to eradicate the culture of treating invitations to foreign technology summits with levity, as they are necessary to equipping the youths with the basic technical insight into technology development in the country.

  • BoI, UNDP train 115 people on renewable energy

    The United Nations Development Programme(UNDP) and the Bank of Industry(BoI) yesterday began sensitisation, training and capacity building on renewable energy products for youths, women and artisans in Ogun State.

    This followed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed early this year by the state government through the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs with UNDP and BOI.

    About 115 peoples participated in the three-day course on how to derive energy from solar, dust and wind.

    Prototypes of renewable energy products, such as cooking stoves and torchlight, among others, were on display at the workshop.

    Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs Basorun Muyiwa Oladipo said the agreement with UNDP and BoI is targeted at giving rural dwellers access to renewable energy sources and creating wealth through it.

    He said the training would empower participants to be self-employed and employers of labour.

    Oladipo said: “The scope of the partnership is to create awareness on renewable energy technology among people, train the unemployed and help potential renewable energy entrepreneurs identify the business opportunities in the sector.”

    Commissioner for Commerce and Industry Abimbola Ashiru said the workshop is pivotal to the economic growth of the state.

    Ashiru said it would ensure access to modern energy services and support micro, small and medium enterprises.

    He said: “Funds would be made available to the participants.”