The Federal Government has reiterated its commitment to tackle the nation’s energy challenge.
Minister of Power, Mr. Adebayo Adelabu, stated this on Wednesday, December 18, 2024, in Abuja at the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) workshop on “Energising Partnerships for Sustainable Energy Access and Innovation”.
The theme of workshop is: “Powering partnership for sustainable energy access and Innovation”.
Adelabu, who was represented by Dr Owolabi Sunday, Director, Renewable and Rural Power Access in the ministry, assured that Nigerians would soon see light at the end of the tunnel.
“As we speak, the nation continues to grapple with peculiar on-grid energy challenges.
“We are able to openly speak about these challenges because, since we assumed office, the ministry has been hard at work, day-by-day, tackling these challenges and converting them into opportunities for growth,” he said.
The minister said that the REA, as an implementing agency of the Federal Government, and ASolar, a player in the private sector, have come together to ensure the success of the workshop.
“We must harp on the concept of collaboration in every sense of the word and activate new opportunities to drive change in the sector.
“The dichotomy between on-grid and off-grid solutions should no longer be seen as a division but as complementary components of a holistic energy strategy,” he said.
Adelabu said that the Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up (DARES) programme would soon kick-off
“Our partners at the World Bank have committed $750 million to this groundbreaking project and we are certain that over 13 million Nigerians will be impacted through the DARES.
“As part of the implementation of the Federal Government’s REF and as part of the REA’s forward-leaning approach to solution-based energy access initiatives.
“I am happy to witness the activation of the e-H.E.A.R.T., a key initiative targeted as sustainably energising healthcare institutions, education, agriculture, rural communities are transportation,” he said.
Adelabu said that the innovative and impactful initiatives would continue to enable the country to scale up energy access.
He said that beyond that there was a need to sustain the close-knit collaboration between the public and private sector players, financiers, innovators and development finance institutions.
“Unlike many nations that focus solely on carbon emission reduction for environmental sustainability, we face the dual imperative of expanding energy access while transitioning to a low-carbon economy.
“This dual challenge has shaped our approach. It demands that we prioritize decentralized solutions, which are faster to deploy and more adaptable to the realities of unserved and underserved areas,” Adelabu added.
The minister said that the Federal Government’s commitment to universal energy access by 2030, in alignment with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG 7), has sparked a paradigm shift.
He said that the team at the REA has been working hard to deliver decentralised renewable energy projects, while charting a new course for the delivery of utility-scale renewable energy infrastructure nationwide.
Earlier, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of REA, Mr Abba Aliyu, said that the agency was desirous of changing the narrative about the electricity challenge in the country.
Aliyu noted that for the first time in the history of Nigeria, the entire electricity value chain has been liberalised and the subnational and the private sectors have been given the opportunity to play a key role in providing electrification in the country.
He said that President Bola Tinubu had approved the request of $750 million distributed access to renewable energy scale of funding.
“The private sector waiting has ended; this is a reality. The private sector should utilise this opportunity, go to these communities, start deploying this infrastructure and come back to REA and benefit from capital grant and subsidy based on the predetermined framework that was approved.
“The Rural Electrification Fund have deployed over 124 mini-grids across the country.
“And among the 124, the one that gladdens my heart is a mini-grid that the REF deployed in a community within the Abuja metropolitan area, among others,” he said.
Aliyu urged the state government, sub-national, to be ready to make use of the Electrification Act and take advantage of these different opportunities being created on that President’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
He said that the framework has been established, and states need to create the enabling environment for the private sector to invest.
By Nana Musa
