By Musa Adamu
Minister of state for Power, Mohammad Wakil, said the federal government was had chosen to prioritize the deployment of Renewable Energy (RE) for electricity generation because of its environmental advantage.
He also said with the nation facing huge energy gap RE had become handy for bridging the gap in the nation’s energy needs.
Speaking while playing host to a delegation of the Renewable Energy Centre of the Economic Community of West Africa (RECECOWAS) led by its Executive Director, Mr. MahamahKappiah, the minister said RE was adopted by world leaders at various fora as a way of addressing sustainable energy development questions.
“Our peculiar needs to add other sources of electricity to the conventional routes has informed this position. Nigeria, after successfully privatizing the power sector, is set for another landmark achievement by fast tracking development of renewable energy sources.
“The wind farm in Katsina is under technical audit before commissioning. The Zungeru hydro dam is under construction. Mambilla hydro dam is already approved and the Kashambilla evacuation project has also been approved. Several renewable energy projects are all in the pipeline.
“We are also working on the creation of a Presidential Initiative on Renewable Energy which is designed to create a focal coordinating point as well as provide the needed political backing for implementation of Renewable Energy projects. President Goodluck Jonathan is personally committed to drawing all these to a logical conclusion as he has also signed the resolution of ECOWAS Heads of Government on renewable energy policy among others.’’ he said.
As a way of fast tracking Nigeria’s adoption of the RE Policy, the minister said Nigeria would soon hold a validation workshop for the ratification of the National Policy on Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (NPREEE).
Responding, Mr.Kappiah commended the Nigerian government for her emphasis on RE, describing it as being in conformity with trends worldwide.
While thanking Nigeria for joining the RE revolution, the ECOWAS energy chief said the path taken by Nigerian Power Sector Reform such as such a large scale of privatization at a swoop, was the best option which most countries were afraid of embarking on.
He also noted that while it takes time for the benefits to fully manifest to the citizenry, he however, assured Nigerians would soon start to reap the fruits of the reforms.
He further said that private sector was best placed to run a virile and efficient power sector, affirming further that Nigeria had taken the right decision.