Energy experts have told Nigeria’s energy sector policy makers to get serious about investment in alternative energy sources amid the serious electricity gap in the country.
The comments of the research heads from private sector investment firms offers a sense of the deepening crisis in the sector which was recently privatised but is yet to show signs of shedding its old inefficient garbs.
The country’s electricity is 70 percent dependant on gas for generation but much of that is wasted through vandalism, restricting generation to about 2,000 megawats for the country’s 170 million consumers.
“This renders us vulnerable whenever there is an attack on gas trunk lines,” says Dolapo Oni, head, energy research, Ecobank Development Company (EDC) Nigeria Limited.
“Most countries around the world don’t allow a particular source of energy to control more than 50 percent of their power output, Oni. Nigeria needs to consider the option of actually burning light crude oil in place of gas as is applicable in neighbouring Ghana.’’
Wale Shonibare, managing director, investment banking, United Capital, one of the alternative energy source campaigners’ key argument is that a step into achieving this aspiration should start with the introduction of the domestic gas obligation, which imposes an obligation on the oil companies to assign certain percentage of the gas being produced for domestic uses.
Nigeria depends on an estimate of 1.1 trillion standard cubic feet of gas per day from Escravos Lagos Pipeline System, which serves as a backbone of power supply but at least, $20 billion will be needed to develop gas infrastructure in Nigeria over the next few years.
“The current situation in global oil and gas markets also necessitates urgency for Nigeria to focus on creating domestic markets for her gas, given the muted demand in our traditional exports markets including Asian emerging markets,” say Rolake Akinkugbe, head, energy/natural resources, FBNQuest, observes.
