FG To Achieve 30GigaWatts By 2030 With 30% Renewable Energy

The Minister of State for Power, Goddy Jedy-Agba, has restated the Federal Government’s commitment to the sustainable energy target, stressing that the country had a sustainable electricity vision of achieving 30 GigaWatts (GW) by 2030 with 30% renewable energy.

He disclosed this at the seventh Nigeria Energy Forum (NEF) 2022, themed: “Energising Economic Growth and Sustainability,” recently in Lagos.

The minister, represented by his Special Technical Assistant, Gabriel Lorsase, had said the country had a sustainable electricity vision of achieving 30 GigaWatts (GW) by 2030 with 30% renewable energy, adding that the Ministry had ongoing renewal energy programmes and initiatives in place to achieve the target.

According to him, “We are in collaboration with the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) under the Nigerian Energy Support Programme (NESP) funded by the European Union (EU), conceived and developed the Nigeria renewable vision platform.

“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 already been embarked upon, which are providing clean energy to Nigerians.”

The Canadian High Commissioner, James Christoff, said the country is open to more bilateral cooperation in the power sector with Nigeria and would assist it in achieving power sector transformation.

Christoff, represented by the Deputy High Commissioner, Teshome Nkrumah, said it was necessary for Nigeria to first create an enabling environment where economic incentives would align with goals.

Christoff said: “Our goals need to reflect broader commitments such as on 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 is certainly within reach for Nigeria, particularly in light of rising diesel costs, and partly due to the increased market penetration of renewable energy solutions.”