The Nation Newspaper

Tag: solar energy

  • UNDP provides solar-powered energy for five communities

    UNDP provides solar-powered energy for five communities

    The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has provided solar-power energy for five rural communities in Bwari Area Council in the FCT.

    The benefitting communities are Tokulo, Zhiko, Sunape, Youpe and Goipe.

    The gesture came under the “Expanding Access to Off-Grid Renewable Energy (Solar and Biomass) Based Sustainable Energy for All,’’ a project initiated by the Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN).

    Prof. Eli Bala, Director General, ECN, said the UNDP provided the fund for the project, while the commission supervised the implementation.

    Bala, who spoke to newsmen after a two-day inspection tour of the communities, said the objective was to utilize in-situ (local) renewable energy sources to provide basic needs for the communities.

    He listed those needs as lighting, cooking, heating, water pump and health care delivery.

    “These rural communities are not grid-connected and even those which are grid-connected; supply is epileptic and not regular to sustain a good standard of living.

    “Fortunately, these areas are endowed with some energy sources referred to as renewable energy, like the sun, wind and the biomass’’ (plant-based materials).

    “They can utilise these with modern technology to enhance their standard of living.

    “What we did in these villages in Bwari Area Council is to provide them with clean water supply from underground through solar energy,’’ Bala said.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that under the initiative, 400 solar home systems were installed in each community to provide lighting for every household.

    It would also enable the residents recharge their handset, while 14 solar street lightings were also installed in each village.

    Also, Primary Health centres in the five communities were not left out as solar power voltages were installed to provide electricity to run their vaccines refrigerators and provide lighting for them.

    Similarly, each community was provided with solar-powered water supply borehole with 10,000 litres storage tank.

    Bala said: “Remember that the entire world is now changing from Millennium Development Goals (MGDs) to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

    “The MDGs has so many goals, health, infant mortality and others but to drive this, energy is required and energy was never a goal in the MDGs.’’

    NAN also reports that under the initiative, the commission designed and installed 400 clay-based efficient woodstoves in every household in those communities.

    Bala explained that the commission’s research centre in Sokoto state designed the improve woodstove.

    According to him, over 65 per cent of the energy utilise in this country is for cooking and it is derive from biomass which is from the forest.

    “Now substitute has not yet been provided, so we cannot stop people from cutting the forest as a source of fuel.

    “We know the effect of cutting the forest, it increases desertification and erosion.

    “So, the best we can do for our people now is to provide them with cook stoves that are efficient and readily available.

    “That which they can manipulate by themselves, not high technology cook stoves and by this, we just modify the conventional clay type,’’ he said.

  • SMEs to invest in solar energy

    To boost the renewable energy policy of the Federal Government and reduce dependence on the national grid, all the Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs)  in the country are planning to invest in solar energy.

    The policy was introduced to increase accessibility to power via production of solar, wind, biomass and other forms of renewable energy.

    Introduced as part of the power  reforms, the policy is aimed at boosting electricity supply in the country.

    The Director, Membership Services/ Spokesman, Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME), Nerus Ekezie, told The Nation that the association is planning to set up a body on renewable energy before December, this year.

    He said the body would serve as a platform for the 17.5 million registered SMEs in Nigeria, adding that they manufacture products and render services to the public.

    He said: ‘’Plans are underway to form a body on renewable energy by December to increase SME operations.  Specifically, we are trying to invest in solar because of its reliability. Biomass and wind energy are quite new in Nigeria, and we do not want to go into it now. Through solar, we hope to cut the cost of production.  Research shows that 40 per cent of the cost of production in the manufacturing sector goes to power. This is one of the  factors that led to the closure of many companies.”

    He listed other factors as financial and succession problems, occasioned by the death of the owners of the companies.  ‘’Many firms have closed, while others are on the verge of collapse. This makes it difficult to know the number of SMEs that have closed shops,’’ he added.

    He said the United Nations Development Project (UNDP) was promoting renewable energy in Nigeria and beyond, stressing that UNDP has promised to support the association.

    Ekezie said the use of renewable energy is optional, noting that operators are allowed to use methods best suitable to them.

    ‘’We cannot force SME operators to use renewable energy. We can only appeal to them on the issue. Our appeal to them is premised on the fact that renewable energy offers value. It is environmental friendly, clean,  and reliable  There is no combustion,  implying that users are free from dangers,’’ he said.

  • Canada to invest $5b in Delta solar energy

    Canada to invest $5b in Delta solar energy

    • Targets 3,000Megawatts

    Delta State has taken the lead in the generation of renewable energy as Canada has pledged to invest $5billion  to produce 3,000 megawatts (Mw) of electricity.

    The initiative of the state government to key into the green economy programme of the global community paid off as the Federal Government signed the Foreign Investments Protection Agreement (FIPA) with Canada to remove bottlenecks to make smooth the take-off of Canadian investments in Nigeria.

    Similarly, Delta State government signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a Canadian investor, Skypower Energy to build and generate solar-powered electricity in the state.

    The  Minister of Industry, Trade and Foreign Investments, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, said the Canadian investor was investing $5 billion in renewable energy in the country.

    According to him, the firm will produce 3,000 Mw of solar-based electricity for the national grid with the facility being deployed first in Delta State having taken the initiative for the renewable energy plant.

    “Skypower will deploy first in Delta State which has taken the lead because of the enormous work the state has put in to ensure the realisation of the renewable energy programme,” Aganga said.

    He said the Federal Government will facilitate the provision of licence to generate the solar-based electricity for the national grid with about 1,000 megawatts being generated form plants in Delta State.

    The Canadian Minister of International Investments, Mr. Christian Paradis, said with the deal between Nigeria and Canada, more investors would be encouraged to invest in Nigeria.

    Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, expressed delight with the agreement and the keen interest shown by the Federal Government, noting that it was an endorsement of the initiative of the state government.

    “This is very historic and emotional for me. For us in Delta State, we have keyed into the green economy programme of the global community. The green economy is not just in enhancing the environment but also meant to empower the people,” he said.

    The governor assured that Deltans would benefit from the 1,000 Mw that would be generated from the state as some of it will be  dedicated to the state.

    Besides, he said FIPA was a big benefit from the World Economic Forum, Africa (WEFA) in Abuja.

  • ‘Why solar energy cannot drive cashless economy’

    ‘Why solar energy cannot drive cashless economy’

    An energy expert has given reasons why banks and other financial institutions are yet to consider solar power as alternate source of energy in driving their automated teller machines (ATMs) and carry out other online transactions.

    The Chief Executive Officer, Prostar Global Energy Services, Hyacinth Udemba, told The Nation that the cost of accessing solar energy and the space required by the banks to install the solar panels are some reasons the solar energy option does not appear attractive.

    “Every bank requires a large quantity of energy to run its operation and solar system may not be an option now because of the cost implication compared to the power demand. But ATMs can always depend on inverter backup depending on the location of the ATM or the branch of the bank. To deploy solar for maximum usage like that of full bank operation will require large space for the panels,” he said, lamenting that the banks were not doing anything to encourage the mass use of the alternative source of emergy in the country.

    “What we are saying is that if banks have policies in place to support renewable energy as we have in other countries of the world, it will be a major boost to the economy. But unfortunately, Nigeria banks are not looking towards that direction. It may be because they are not aware of the roles they can play in the sector. Operators are therefore left to do the little they can. So, at the moment, operators in the alternative energy sector are not encouraged in the sense that the incentives from government through the banks are not there,” he added.

    According to him, the government is not helping matters as it prefers to give installation contacts to offshore firms thereby depriving the economy of local value addition and job creation.

    “The situation is not even been helped by the government. Any time the government wants to give major jobs out, they don’t give them to indigenous experts. It is either they are given to foreign installers or companies or they are done the same way they do other projects in the country,” he said, adding that the story may have started changing now by virtue of the new Procurement Act.

    “I think they are beginning to give jobs to those who have the competence to do the jobs. But as government is beginning to pick interest in the sector, if things are done properly, I want to believe that in the next five years, we shall be somewhere in the area of energy in the country. It is only then that the roles of the banking industry in the sector may be established,” he said.