The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has stressed the need for stakeholders in Nigeria’s energy sector to prioritise sustainable energy in a policy document being evolved because of the strategic importance of energy for sustainable human development and in a post-oil economy such as Nigeria.
The Federal Government is in the process of evolving a contemporary energy master plan in the face of recent global oil fluctuations. This reality has brought to the fore a need for the nation to urgently consider other sustainable sources of energy. “Renewable energy and energy efficiency represents the cheapest and the fastest way we can make clean energy available and accessible to rural communities, most of who are not connected to the national grid.”
The Country Director, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Pa Lamin Beyai stated this at a National Energy Master Plan (NEMP) National Stakeholders Validation Workshop held recently in Abuja. Beyai, whose speech was delivered by the Deputy Country Director (Programme), UNDP Nigeria, Mandisa Mashologu, described as very important the task of finalising the NEMP.
In the discharge of its responsibility for the strategic planning and coordination of the nation’s policies in the field of energy in all its ramifications, the Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN), in 1990, constituted a committee comprising some members of the Commission’s Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) to draft a National Energy Policy (NEP). The draft was approved by Government in April 2003 after several reviews by inter-ministerial committees. In order to provide a framework for the implementation of the National Energy Policy, the NEMP was drafted in 2007.
The ECN, in recognition of the recent developments in the national and international energy scenes, 10 years after the approval of the NEP, carried out a review of the 2003 NEP document in 2013. Consequently, this made a review of the 2007 draft NEMP imperative.
In December 2014, therefore, an Experts’ Peer Review/Work Group Meeting was held in Abuja to review the 2007 draft NEMP in line with the revised NEP.
The revised draft NEMP seeks to achieve the goals of the revised NEP by converting its strategies to actionable programmes and activities with timelines in the short, medium and long terms. Each chapter of the National Energy Master Plan contains policy statements, policy objectives and actionable programmes, activities and timelines.
The NEMP document answers many questions about government’s Energy Policy direction and planned activities on all energy types and cross-cutting issues without necessarily referring to the several operational and sub-sectoral policy documents. This, according to the UNDP, is the type of document investors often sought for.
Beyai congratulated the leadership of ECN for the initiative and assured them of the continuous support of the UNDP.
He reaffirmed “our continued commitment to working with you on the outcomes and finalising the National Energy Master Plan for a greater energy future for Nigeria.”
“We are especially delighted because the document to be reviewed is one of the success stories of the UNDP’s long standing partnership with the ECN. The Master Plan which was first developed in 2003 is indeed long overdue for a review and for this process to be successful, we all agree on the importance of the efficient coordination of activities in the energy sector and hence this validation workshop.
“The master plan review is very timely in ensuring scaling up actions aimed at promoting increased access to energy.”
He said there exists a policy gap that the NEMP will not only bridge but also that it would provide the much needed strategic framework for the coordination of the energy sector within the country.
“Energy is the bedrock of any economy, and a key requirement for both social and economic development of any country. It is one of the major catalysts for industrial development of small and medium scale enterprises, a sector that has provided employment for the majority of Nigerians,” he said.
The foregoing, he said, “Provides a strong impetus for the implementation of some of our on-going programmes, notably the Global Environment Facility (GEF)/Energy Efficiency Programme.”
According to him, the Programme has, to date, supported the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) to develop minimum energy performance standards for lighting appliances; equipped SON and the National Centre for Energy Efficiency and Conservation (NCEEC), with two state-of-the-art sets of fully functioning international testing laboratories for carrying out compliance tests on imported refrigeration and lighting; retrofitted the ECN building with efficient lighting to save millions of naira in electricity bills; and provided extensive training provided for 2,000 public, private and CSOs stakeholders. Additionally, in partnership with the ECN, UNDP has also set up an eco-village in Nasarawa State where a 4Kw PV system is currently powering 63 beneficiaries including households, businesses and a community water borehole.
Addressing the participants, the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Abdu Bulama, lauded the ECN for the initiative to review the draft NEMP and make it more sensitive to current realities within and outside Nigeria.
Bulama, represented by Dr Jibril, said, “Energy plays a significant dual role as an indispensable driver of growth in the economy, and as generator of income for development in the country.”
He said the ECN was established by law in 1979 and that it is charged with the responsibility for the strategic planning and coordination of the nation’s policies in the field of energy in all its ramifications. “In doing so, the Commission also inter alia is to make recommendations for the exploitation of new energy sources to government.”
The policy, he said, encourages the optimum development of all energy resources in the country, including renewable energy sources in an environmentally friendly manner with the active participation of private sector.
He added that, in order to provide a framework for the implementation of the NEP, in 2007, the NEMP was drafted. The translation of the provisions of the NEP into a long-term NEMP, for its implementation is in line with Article 5(d) of Decree No. 62 of 1979 of the ECN’s mandate, which empowers the ECN to “prepare, after consultation with such agencies of government whose functions relate to the field of energy development or supply as the Commission considers appropriate, periodic master plans for the balanced and coordinated development of energy in Nigeria.”
The NEMP document, he said, answers many questions about government’s Energy Policy direction and planned activities on all energy types and cross-cutting issues without necessarily referring to the several operational and sub-sectoral policy documents.
President, Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Ademola Isaac Olorunfemi, who chaired the workshop, said, “The need for an up-to-date NEMP that reflects the current energy realities in the country cannot be over-emphasised.”
Olorunfemi recalled that the first draft of the NEMP was produced in 2007 by a National Committee chaired by the then President of the NSE, Emeka Eze, and commended the ECN for this initiative.
He described energy as the centre of sustainable development, where economy and environment are in harmony. In a nation like Nigeria with abundant energy resources and various sub-sectoral energy policies, achieving the overall objective of adequate energy supply for sustainable development, requires harmonisation of policies and actions, which the NEP and the NEMP strive to achieve.
Welcoming the stakeholders, Director-General of the ECN, Prof Eli Jidere Bala, said, “The Commission commenced operation in 1989 after the decision of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS, taken at Cotonou in 1982, that every member state should establish by law a body within the machinery of government to be charged with the responsibility for coordination and supervising all energy functions and activities within the member state, and that the body be called the Energy Commission of each member state. So far, Ghana and Nigeria have complied.”
Bala said it became evident to the ECN on commencement of its operations in 1989 that a NEP document was required in order to meet its mandate, which requires it to prepare, after consultation with such agencies of government whose functions relate to the field of energy development or supply as the Commission considers appropriate, periodic master plans for the balanced and coordinated development of energy in Nigeria.
He said although sub-sectorial policies of petroleum, coal, electricity, among others, existed then, but that an integrated NEP was, however, absent. The Commission therefore embarked on the production of a NEP in collaboration with stakeholders. A draft was submitted to government in 1993. It however got approved 10 years later after several inter-ministerial reviews. This provided the National Policy from which a NEMP was drafted therefrom in 2007 by stakeholders.
“You may also recall that in 2013, the ECN with active participation of relevant agencies reviewed the NEP to reflect recent developments in the national and international energy scenes. Consequently, this made a review of the 2007 draft NEMP very imperative. In the last quarter of 2014, relevant agencies of government were again brought together to carry out a preliminary review of the 2007 draft NEMP in line with the revised NEP,” he said.
The objective of the NEMP is: to ensure the development of the nation’s energy resources, with diversified energy resources option, for the achievement of national energy security and an efficient energy delivery system with an optimal energy resource mix; to guarantee increased contribution of energy productive activities to national income; guarantee adequate, reliable and sustainable supply of energy at appropriate costs and in an environmentally friendly manner, to the various sectors of the economy, for national development; to guarantee an efficient and cost effective consumption pattern of energy resources; to accelerate the process of acquisition and diffusion of technology and managerial expertise in the energy sector and indigenous participation in energy sector industries, for stability and self-reliance; to promote increased investments and development of the energy sector industries with substantial private sector participation; to ensure a comprehensive, integrated and well informed energy sector plans and programmes for effective development; to foster international cooperation in energy trade and projects development in both the African region and the world at large; and to successfully use the nation’s abundant energy resources to promote international cooperation.
This revised draft NEMP, he said, seeks to achieve the goals of the revised NEP by converting its strategies to actionable programmes and activities with timelines in the short, medium and long terms.
His words: “The draft NEMP before you for validation consists of 13 chapters, covering all energy resources and cross-cutting issues. Each chapter, except the introduction and that on energy demand and supply projections, presents the national policies and the objectives of each energy sub-sector and issues that need to be addressed for the balanced development of the energy sector. The set of activities required for accomplishing the objectives under each strategy, including the implementing and funding agencies as well as in the short, medium and long terms timelines for each activity are tabulated in every chapter.
“You may all be reminded that the nation’s vision is to be amongst the 20 largest economies in the world by 2020. Nigeria was number 39 in 2012. However, with the rebasing in 2013, we jumped to number 26 and became the largest in Africa. This upward movement requires adequate, reliable and cost effective supply of electricity, fuels and process heat in the economy. Hence, the need to have a ‘roadmap’ for exploiting our energy resources to meet the energy demand required to attain our vision and aspiration.”
According to him, a study conducted by ECN on Nigeria’s long term energy demand and supply using IAEA energy planning tools of MAED and MESSAGE predicted huge amount of energy requirements in the economy under various economic scenarios. For example, the study indicates that, under the reference scenario, Nigeria would require about 45,000MW installed capacity of electricity by 2020 and about 120,000MW by 2030. If, however, the economy is to grow by double the current rate, the supply for electricity would have to reach about 90,000MW by 2020 and over 300,000MW by 2030. On the other hand, PMS demand may grow from about 40 million litres/day in 2015, to about 77 million litres/day in 2020 and 155 million litres/day by 2030 in the referenced scenario. Whereas for the optimistic scenario, demand could reach 97 million litres/day by 2020 and 242 million litres/day in 2030.
“It is therefore our belief that a strategic NEMP, like the one you are to consider, is imperative for a balanced and coordinated development of energy in Nigeria to meet National Transformational Agenda to enable her be within the 20 largest economies by 2020 and thereafter.”
Bala said the draft revised NEMP would capture activities from Petroleum Policy, Coal and Tar Sands/Bitumen Policy; Nuclear Energy Policy; Renewable Energy Policy; Bio-energy Policy; Electricity Policy; Policy on Energy Utilisation; Environment and Climate Change Policy; Policy on Other Energy Issues; Policy on Energy Financing; and on Planning and Policy implementation that will enable the energy demand targets predicted to be met.
The objective of the current exercise, he said, is therefore to bring the review in line with the current happenings in the energy sector as well as in line with international best practices under active private sector participation as dictated by the revised NEP. Specifically, participants were to: identify any obsolete activities in the NEMP document and make appropriate recommendations; make recommendations on new activities vis-à-vis the strategies in revised NEP; update data and information in the NEMP document; ensure a more realistic natural gas flare-out date; ensure that the NEMP is gender sensitive; and make any comments and/or suggestions that will general enrich the review
