The Role of Renewable Energy in Improving

Energy Access to Rural Areas

By

Engr. Yusuf Mohammad Ganda,

Energy access is a key to development and no country

has managed poverty alleviation without increasing its energy access.

Nigeria has an installed generating capacity of about 6000MW, with only about 40% of the population having access to grid. More than 80% of rural areas have no access to Electricity.

The supply of electricity in the country is sparse and inadequate; the spread favours the urban areas with about 80% accessibility by households.

It is therefore essential to access the alternatives that exist for supplying electricity, in a sustainable manner, to rural households in order to meet their energy requirements. Potentially, one of such options is renewable energy.

Access to Energy, especially for rural communities, represents a central pillar of development.

It is estimated that around 1.3 billion people in the world have no reliable access to electricity.

Nigeria, with 170 million population has 40% and about 10% access to electricity and renewable energy, respectively.

Renewable energy in rural areas of developing countries has made significant inroads for household lighting and entertainment.

The major emerging productive uses of renewable energy in the rural areas include the following:

Rural electrification Rural water projects Battery charging

Health care delivery Agriculture Education

Cottage industry Community Services

Domestic Uses

Improving renewable energy access in the

rural areas has the capacity to put to stop, the

massive migration of people from rural places

to the urban centres. The following are the

benefits:

Improving Standard of Living

Women Empowerment

Employment Generation

Overall Developmental Effect

Poverty Reduction

Specific policy, regulatory frameworks, financing

and investment, technological, public awareness,

quality/standards, poor resource database and

intermittent resource availability, confront the

access to renewable energy in Nigeria.

Policy and regulatory barriers

Financing and Investment barriers

Technological Barrier

Public awareness

Standards and quality control

Inadequate resource assessment

Intermittency of resource availability

Solar Photovoltaic

Wind Energy

Solar thermal

Bio-mass

Small Hydro

Clean cooking stoves

In order to achieve a significant energy access in the rural areas, the following are being recommended: The Federal Government should take renewable

energy more serious through improved budgetary allocations to the sector as well as adopt all policy drafts, including but not limited to Renewable Energy Master Plan prepared by the Energy Commission of Nigeria.

The National Assembly should as a matter of urgency legislate on all renewable energy policy drafts submitted to them.

Governments at State and Local levels should integrate the use of renewable energy for rural development.

Establishment of a Trust Fund that would be committed to the promotion of renewable energy projects in the rural areas of the country.

Rural areas in Nigeria are places where many raw materials and agricultural activities thrive and the need to develop such areas cannot be over emphasized.

This is because underdevelopment of these areas has had negative impact on the economy and industrial growth because of rural-urban migration. This in turn, has contributed to increased crime in the urban centres as well as overstretching of available facilities there.

As a result, government must wake up to halt this negative effect on its economy. This can be achieved with the use of renewable energy technologies in order to generate employment.