From Okwe Obi, Abuja
Vice President Kashim Shettima has said the country would need about $10 billion yearly to achieve energy transition by 2060, which amounts to $360 billion.
Shettima stated this yesterday at an energy transition symposium organized by the Development Agenda Magazine, in Abuja.
He said before then, the country must maximise petroleum resources in the short term to provide the base-load energy that would turbocharge the economy.
Represented by the Special Adviser to the President on Power and Infrastructure, Sadiq Wanka, he said: “But full implementation of the Nigeria Energy Transition would not be easy.
“It requires concerted effort locally and international collaboration to source financing and to prepare the Nigerian workforce for a Net-Zero economy and to have a truly just energy transition.
“If we take the issue of financing alone , funding the energy transition requires investments of over $10 billion per year up to 2060.
“With 45% of Nigerians lacking access to electricity, and GDP per capita that is half that in Egypt and a third of that in South Africa, the urgency of, improving the economic condition of Nigerians is clear, But there are critical environmental/considerations which if not adequately managed would actually hamper our ability to change the lives of millions of our people for the better.
“Majority of this money would necessarily come from the private sector including through initiatives to access high -integrity carbon markets.
“But we are up to the challenge. The administration of President Ahmed Tinubu is willing to take the difficult decisions and the rich resource base and depth of human capital in our dear country will ensure our success.”
The Vice President also, noted that the two-pronged strategy to pursue renewables alongside oil and gas investments has yielded notable results that support the overall energy transition, like the “Climate Change Act signed in 2021 seeks to mainstream climate action into national plans and programmes.
“A renewed push towards hydroelectric power seeks to tap into over 14,000MW of near- term hydropower potential.
“The 700MW Zungeru Hydropower plant just came online in 2024. The national regulator has also mandated electricity distribution licensees to procure a certain percentage of their power from renewables.
“The Electricity Act 2023 which Mr. President signed, strongly supports the transition to a more renewable energy mix.”
Also, Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State, said his state has adopted what he called “unique approaches of placing people in the centre of its development plan.”
Represented by the Managing Director of Kaduna Power Supply Company (KAPSCO), Idris Aminu Idris, Uba said: “The Kaduna Solar for Health programme began with the goal of improving access to healthcare by delivering sustainable, uninterrupted power supply to Primary Healthcare Centers (PHC) and Maternity Health Clinics across all Local Government Areas (LGA) in Kaduna State.”
According to him, “the scope of the project expanded to include rural isolated General Hospitals across 255 wards in Kaduna State.
“The objectives of the Kaduna Solar for Health program are to increase access to healthcare; to ensure 1 hospital in every ward and LGA has access to reliable power 24hrs/day; to eradicate petrol and diesel generators which cause noise and pollute the environment with toxic waste such as CO, that can lead to serious Environmental and Health issues.”
Editor in Chief of Development Agenda Magazine, Paddy Ezeala, said the event was organized for chart a way on how to achieve a seamless energy transition.
Ezeala said: “Speakers at today’s event are speaking on how the Energy Transition movement is likely to affect Nigerians, especially those at the grassroots and more specifically those impacted by the extractive industry activities.
“These include those presently impacted by fossil fuels extraction or those affected by extraction of minerals powering so called clean energy, such as lithium, cobalt etc.”