Abstract
The global energy demand keeps growing because of increasing population, industrialisation, movement of people and goods across the world. The major sources of the world’s energy are coal, oil, gas, nuclear, and other fossil fuels which emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere that is believed to be responsible for climate change. However, there is a shift in most countries towards the utilisation of renewable energy for electricity generation, heating, cooling, and transportation. Renewable energy is energy produced from a source that is not depleted when used. Sources like water, sun, or wind are renewables because they are naturally replenished and do not run out. Nigeria with an estimated population of 218 million people and with less than 60% of the population connected to the national electricity grid, faces poor electricity supply with regular power outages. Also, Nigeria like many African countries is seeing the impact of climate change across the country. There is draught in northern Nigeria resulting in farmer-herder clashes, while flooding, and erosion is prevalent in the south. There is air pollution especially from petrol and diesel generators in every part of the country. While climate change is arguably the greatest challenge of our time, the energy transition to renewable is potentially one of the greatest opportunities of our time. Researchers believe that there is huge potential to generate electricity from solar, hydro, wind, and biomass in Nigeria. They concluded that renewable energy should be added to the energy mix to help solve the electricity supply crisis in the country.
The primary objective of this work is to investigate strategies that will contribute to the optimisation of renewable energy for electricity generation in Nigeria. The research finds how large-scale electricity can be generated from renewable sources in Nigeria as a case study and other developing countries. The research was conducted by a systematic review of literature and mixed methods. Qualitative data were collected through focus group discussions and quantitative data from structured survey via questionnaire. A convergent parallel design was deployed to collect both the quantitative and qualitative data simultaneously in November and December of 2023. The data were analysed separately and the results from the two methods are compared and interpreted to derive conclusions. The conclusions drawn from this study and the recommendations will help to advise government policies, plans, and executions to achieve this goal. Major findings of this study are (i) Solar energy is considered to have the highest potential for Nigeria and hydropower is the next potential; (ii) Most Nigerians are willing to pay a little above the current electricity price which is below cost reflective price.
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Many people are not willing to pay the real price for electricity supply; (iii) Financing of renewable energy projects is considered the biggest challenge for the growth of renewables for power generation in Nigeria. Lack of capital, high cost of equipment, and foreign exchange exposure are considered big challenges; (iv) The various strategies deployed to develop the renewable energy industry in leading countries will also be effective in Nigeria.
This study recommends that the Nigeria government should (i) Target electricity generation capacity of 200 GW by the year 2035 and target fifty percent of the capacity i.e. 100 GW from renewable energy; (ii) Adopt combined strategies used by leading countries which includes diversification of renewable sources, investment in research and development, international cooperation, financial incentive, subsidies and ambitious targets to optimise the development of renewable energy; (iii) Focus on solar and small hydropower to kick start increase in electricity generation capacity from renewable sources; (iv) Focus on building both large-scale plants and many small-scale plants. Furthermore, there should be deliberate efforts by government and private stakeholders to create awareness of the real cost of electricity generation especially from petrol and diesel self-generation to create the willingness for customers to pay the right price for electricity.