Modupe Gbadeyanka
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
A global technology group, Wärtsilä, has revealed that for Nigeria to meet the 100 per cent renewable energy power system by 2060, it must attract investments worth $425 billion.
In the report titled Nigeria Leading Africa to Net Zero, it was disclosed that the country must design an optimal power system consisting of 1,200 GW of renewable energy capacity, 283 GW of energy storage, and 34 GW of engine-based power plants for grid balancing purposes. Within the next eight years, precisely by 2030, the country can need investments worth $18.7 billion to be on the road to achieving the 2060 energy target.
This can be achieved by significant policy reforms, according to the Managing Director of Wärtsilä in Nigeria. Mr Wale Yusuff, who noted that “despite the many government efforts to implement an increasingly strong legal framework, project developers and sponsors must still navigate a very complex and uncertain system that adds excessive investment risk.”
The research by his organisation shows that investing in renewable energy and flexibility from gas engines and energy storage is the best way to reduce energy costs, increase energy access and improve grid reliability.
With this strategy, the cost of electricity generation is predicted to drop by 74 per cent by 2060 compared to 2022 levels, and carbon emissions will drop to zero.
As Nigeria seeks to take the lead in climate action whilst meeting the nation’s growing energy needs and securing universal access to electricity for its population, the need to build a data-driven and cost-effective energy strategy becomes crucial.
Using advanced energy system modelling techniques, Wärtsilä’s analysts have outlined the most cost-effective power system that can be built in Nigeria year after year to reach net zero by 2060.
This in-depth energy modelling exercise also reveals the key role that Nigeria’s domestic gas will play in enabling a smooth energy transition.
Nigeria’s vast domestic gas reserves can be mobilised as an inexpensive bridging fuel to power balancing engines in support of intermittent renewable energy generation until gas engine power plants begin to be converted to run purely on green hydrogen starting in the early forties.
“If the power system expansion roadmap presented to the report is successfully implemented, by 2060, Nigeria’s power system will be fully decarbonised and able to meet the energy needs of our country’s rapidly growing population,” Mr Yusuff said.
“The key components of our power system will be renewables, supported energy storage technologies, together with grid-balancing engines that have been converted to run on green hydrogen. As early as 2032, Nigeria can reach universal access to electricity, and the inefficient, expensive, and polluting diesel generators still widely used today will be ancient history,” he added.
With its huge gas reserves and high renewable energy potential, Nigeria has all the natural resources necessary to lead it to a successful energy transition.
If the country can improve its power transmission infrastructure, develop a sound policy framework, and deploy a data-driven power expansion plan based on renewable energy and flexibility, it will take a giant step towards securing universal access to affordable, reliable, and fully affordable decarbonised electricity.
