Fakoyejo Olalekan
Nigeria has been listed as the highest importer of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and diesel generators in Africa by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).
Also, IRENA disclosed that Nigerians spend more on PMS, also known as fuel, and diesel, than they spend on electricity supplied through the national grip.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThis was disclosed in a new report titled; ‘Renewable Energy Roadmap: Nigeria‘, which was created with the Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN).
“Given the several million captive generators imported into the country, Nigeria leads Africa as the highest importer of generators and is also one of the largest importers worldwide.
“Nigeria’s erratic power supply systems and the relatively expensive captive generation negatively impact the economy from the residential to the industry sector.
“Owing to the high costs of captive generation, households and small and medium-sized enterprises spend between two and three times more on kerosene, diesel and petrol than they do on electricity from the grid. In industry, government figures suggest that the cost of self-generating power makes Nigerian products approximately one-third more expensive than imports,” the report reads.
According to the IRENA, the power industry in Nigeria is struggling with accessing capital to provide adequate electricity to all households within the country.
The report stated that a $34.5 billion investment is needed to achieve that feat by 2030, “While the Nigerian power sector continues to struggle, poor financing remains the key bottleneck to lack of progress.
“The Nigerian power sector will require substantially more investment to achieve a constant power supply,” IRENA said.
It added: “In terms of improving electricity access, around $34.5 billion in total investment will be required to provide electricity access to all households by 2030.
“The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) suggests that rehabilitation and expansion of the grid will require an annual investment of $1 billion for the next ten years.”
