By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Federal Government has been urged to ensure no import duty or Value Added Tax (TAX) is placed on all renewable energy products in the country.
This appeal was made by President of the Renewable Energy Association of Nigeria (REAN), Mr Segun Adaju.
The association head, who spoke on Tuesday in Abuja, explained that this would move would assist in encouraging more investors in the renewable energy sector and also enhance its growth.
According to Mr Adaju, a tax-free policy on all Distributed Renewable Energy Products (DREP) like batteries, inverters, charge controllers and others would promote in-country assembly of DREP in Nigeria.
He pointed out that taxes imposed on integrated solar home systems and others were often unreliable, stressing that Harmonised System (HS) codes were inconsistently applied to DRE products, making it difficult to predict the level of tax charged.
Nigerians are gradually embracing alternative source of power supply due to inconsistency in electricity supply by the power firms in the country.
Renewable energy and products are also becoming popular, though some of the components are still very expensive to acquire, especially solar panels to power appliances in homes.
Adedapo Adesanya