‘Nigeria requires 50,000MW to develop’

Nigeria needs over 50,000MW of power to effectively develop its economy, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Dr. Jamila Shu’ara, has said.

Shu’ara gave this hint on Monday while delivering the keynote address at a workshop on renewable energy in Abuja.

According to her, for Nigeria to take its pride of place as a leading economy in the world, it must generate sufficient electricity to drive its socio-economic development.

The Perm Sec who was represented by a director at the ministry, Mr. Armayaw Korfi, noted  that experience had clearly shown that Nigeria must explore all possible means of expanding energy access if it must make head way as a nation in power generation.

“While the power requirement to drive Nigeria’s socio-economic development stands at over 50,000MW, we currently generate less than a tenth of that. Similarly, we are not able to make any local contribution to the ethanol blending project, which was aimed at reducing emission from fossil fuel,” she said.

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Raising a poser, she said: “Can we all imagine what economic development that would attend to Nigeria if we are generating about 20,000MW of electricity from renewable sources, or locally providing ethanol for E10 blending?

“Definitely, the economic landscape of this nation and its people will dramatically change. It is only then that we can confidently take our potential position in the world as a leading economy.”

She was however optimistic that the country has potentials to develop renewable energy sources to complement other existing sources, which have proven insufficient overtime.

The ministry, she noted, had identified the need to build necessary capacities in the renewable energy value chain in Nigeria.

“This strategy is borne out of the consciousness that fossil fuel is non-renewable, implying that our stock as a nation continues to decline.”

 

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