INADEQUATE power supply in the country may have been costing the nation's economy a power deficit of $1 billion (N160 billion) yearly.The yearly loss, described as conservative, was being incurred through wasted opportunities and concomitant investment slow down in the country.At the Bank of Industry (BOI)/ United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)'s Access to Renewable Energy Project in Lagos, on Monday, Teni Majekodunmi, a renewable energy expert and Chief Executive Officer, EcoXchange, said that lack of investment in power sector by investors was taking a toll on Federal Government's expenditure.According to her, there was need for private sector participation to support government in refinancing the sector, adding that the time has come for alternative energy to be explored to compliment and increase the nation's power generation.Majekodunmi explained that government needed to put in place enabling environment for the private sector to operate optimally, because power sector investment is huge and government's expenditures are getting leaner every day, due to rising recurrent spending.'We want to see how private sector can come in to refinance power sector, because government expenditures on the sector are getting thinner on a daily basis. But government needs to come in at this early stage to provide the enabling environment for private sector participation.'Project Manager, Access to Renewable Energy (ATRE), Segun Adaju said the energy sector was of strategic importance to the nation's economy and a major driver for growth.Adaju, while delivering a paper titled: 'Investing in Clean Energy for Base of the Pyramid (BOP) in Nigeria,' said the country was facing an energy crisis that needs social intervention.He said only 60 per cent of people living in the urban areas have access to electricity, compared to 90 per cent of them living in the rural areas, without no access to electricity.According to him, the World Resources Institute and International Finance Corporation (IFC) estimated that Nigeria's potential household energy market worth $5.1 billion, but lack of adequate investment in the sector was depriving the revenue actualisation.He noted that the current 4,000 mega watt capacity of power generation out of an installed capacity of 8,000mw was not enough for the country's population of 147 million, adding that renewable energy is needed to increase power generation.Adaju, lamented that despite government granting 20 Independent Power Project licences to private concessionaires to increase the capacity by additional 10,000 mw, none of the projects have been realised due to various factors especially paucity of fund.The renewable energy expert explained that large per centage of Small Medium Enterprise (SMEs) companies have invested in their own power generation at a high cost, adding that private sector especially the financial institutions must come out to support the energy sector.'We need the private sector participation in this sector especially our banks, so that we can increase our power generating capacity in the country.'He said that clean energy refers to products and services that produce energy from renewable resources and emit fewer greenhouse gas than energy from conventional fuels.
Click here to read full news..
