The Federal Government is to diversify Nigeria’s energy supply needs to include renewable energy so as to accelerate socio-economic development of the country. Onu disclosed this when he declared open the forum on “Scaling-Up Interconnected Mini-Grids Development In Nigeria: Current Status, Challenges And Prospects”, organised by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP-GEF) and the Energy Commission of Nigeria, in Abuja.
Onu said that renewable energy will help the nation meet up its electricity needs in a functional and sustainable manner, adding that it will also improve the quality of life in the country. Said he: “Nigeria is endowed with substantial energy resources such as coal, crude oil and natural gas; renewables such as hydro, wind, solar, geothermal, waves and tides, as well as biomass”. “The challenge before us, has always been on how to efficiently transform these resources into adequate and reliable energy for national development using our enormous capacity in science, technology, innovation and entrepreneurship”, he added.
Onu explained that since the inception of the present administration in 2015, there had been an increase of electronic power generation capacity at an annual rate of about 390 Mega Watts per year. He, however, said that while this is commendable, it could not adequately meet the needs of our growing population and sustain the desired level of economic development. Onu said that Nigeria’s desire to industrialise cannot be realised without adequate power supply, adding that his Ministry is working round the clock to solve this national problem.
He stated further that every effort must be made to ensure that our homes, offices, factories, schools, hospitals and laboratories have adequate reliable and affordable electricity supply. Renewable energy he added could meet Nigeria’s energy needs in the area of job creation and improved standard of living in rural areas.
