By Musa Adamu
Abuja
The National Council on Power (NACOP), in its recommendations, said states should embraced the public, private partnership (PPP) model to realise rural electrification projects.
The Council, which reeled out a number of recommendation after its maiden meeting in Abuja, said states governments should pay premium attention to the attractiveness of rural electrification as destinations for PPP initiatives.
It said the states should use the PPP to scale up Rural Electrification implementation.
Among other recommendations by the council is that existing and additional pioneer-status frameworks such as fiscal and non-fiscal incentives imperative to engender global competitiveness in the power sector be extended to encourage investors in renewable energy and energy efficiency project.
It also said the federal ministry of power should organise a national stakeholders meeting biannual to review progress made in renewable energy development and energy efficiency programmes showcasing indigenous technology in renewable energy.
“That federal and state governments allocate a minimum of 10% of their annual budget provision for the development of power projects. Council further recommends that 50% of this allocation be dedicated to Rural Electrification projects.
“That federal ministry of power and other relevant MDAs maintain a web portal on renewable energy development and energy efficiency data, projects, initiatives and technologies in Nigeria, in addition to establishing regional offices,” it said.
It further recommended that all rural electrification projects be implemented within a framework based on community ownership/partnership.
That the federal ministry of power sends the draft copy of the new rural electrification strategy and Implementation plan to state governments and other stakeholders for comments and contributions before approval by the relevant authority.
“Acknowledged the need for federal ministry of power to clearly outline the roles of federal rural electrification agency (REA), state rural electrification boards (REBs) and other stakeholders in the implementation of operation light-up rural Nigeria (OLURN)project for its effective implementation.
“That the federal ministry of power and state government’s relevant MDAs develop and implement waste-to-power plants as embedded generation to supplement electricity generation and clean up litters and wastes in cities across the country.”
According to the council, REA is to set up a framework for maintenance of rural electrification infrastructure and a strategic and monitoring framework for the implementation of these recommendations should be put in place by the ministry in collaboration with stakeholders.
