RURAL ELECTRIFICATION AGENCY

OF NIGERIA

A PAPER PRESENTEDBY

ENGR. SAM GEKPE, MANAGING DIRECTOR/CHIEF EXECUTIVE

ONSHOWCASING INNOVATIVE RENEWABLE POWER

GENERATION & PROMOTING OFF-GRID POWER SUPPLY

OBJECTIVE OF THE PAPER

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� To acquaint participants with efforts of Rural Electrification Agency in promoting off-grid power supply.

� To increase awareness in the upcoming renewable energy market and the potentials that abound in Nigeria

� To highlight the socio-economic impact of rural electrification using renewable energy sources.

INTRODUCTION

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� Recent World Bank report has it that nearly 2 billion people in the world have no access to electrical energy and majority of these people live in isolated rural areas in developing countries.

� The energy crisis, climate change, energy poverty in developing countries and the commitment by planners and policy makers in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) has led to a rethink.

� The current thinking is to review available energy options, especially the decentralized sources that could supply poor and isolated communities with energy for development.

� The linkages between rural energy and poverty alleviation and the potential contribution of renewables have led to a global acceptance that energy is a key element for rural development.

INTRODUCTION (Cont’d)

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� Federal Government of Nigeria’s commitment to sustainable development targets led to the formation of the Electric Power Sector Reform Implementation Committee (EPIC) in 1999, to develop a roadmap for the promotion of policy goals of total liberalization, competition and Private - Sector led growth in the electricity sector.

� The Policy recommendations evolved into the National Electric Power Policy of Nigeria, which was adopted in March 2001.

� The policy objectives included the provision of new regulatory environment that considers new technological developments, ensures reliability, economic efficiency to support socio-economic development, provide universal access to electricity, encourage domestic production of electrical equipment, ensure protection of the environment.

INTRODUCTION (Cont’d)

� Good progress has been made in achieving these set objectives, one of which is the establishment of the Rural Electrification Agency and other sister institutions.

� Minimizing government spending and ensuring efficient targeting of subsidies is another major achievement.

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RURAL ELECTRIFICATION AGENCY (REA)

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� The Electric Power Sector Reform Act which was passed in 2005, provides for the establishment of the Rural Electrification Agency of Nigeria which was inaugurated in March 2006 to rapidly expand rural and peri-urban access to electricity in the country.

� The Agency has the mandate to promote rural electrification in the country through the exploration and exploitation of grid and off-grid methods by extensive private sector involvement.

� REA is to encourage the private sector in the development of thenation’s abundant renewable energy resources by creating an enabling environment, while ensuring that government agencies, cooperatives and communities where feasible have adequate room to participate in enhanced electricity service delivery.

WHY RENEWABLES

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� Renewable energy is energy obtained from regenerative and inexhaustible sources within a natural environment.

� It is clean, environmental friendly and cheaper in the long run.

� Renewable electricity refers to electrical energy that does not result in depletion of the earth’s resources and has minimal environmental impact.

� The country currently faces serious challenge in power generation from conventional sources, and continued grid extension has not achieved rapid rural access expansion targets due to massive investment demand.

� Non-conventional renewable energy has become a preferred option in our strategy of expanding rural access to electricity in Nigeria.

� Accelerating rural electrification coverage will require an aggressive deployment of multiple supply options and business delivery systems.

� In Nigeria, available statistics show that renewable energy generation options only contribute about 0.06% of total electricity generating capacity, and this underscores the need for increased investment in renewable energy production.

COMPONENTS OF RENEWABLES

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� Rural Electrification Agency is concentrating on developing renewable energy schemes that are predicated on inexpensive and low cost technologies, that will be affordable by the rural dwellers.

� Solar Energy - The sun radiates about 180 billion MWH of energy over the earth and Nigeria is exposed to a high solar radiation level of 3.5 - 7.0KWh/M2/day. This can be electricity harnessed for productive uses.

� Biomass co-generation - Is the simultaneous production of electric power and heat energy through a direct combustion of the biomassresources. The biomass energy resources of the nation have beenestimated at 144 million tonnes/year. This shows the huge resource potential for electricity generation.

COMPONENTS OF RENEWABLES (Cont’d)

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� Wind Energy - This is the harnessing of power from wind to generate electricity. The wind regime in Nigeria is moderate. The wind is generally weak in the south except in the coastal and offshore areas and strongest in the hilly regions of the north. The mountainous terrains, especially in the middle belts and the northern fringes of the country, where prime wind conditions exist, hold high potentials for exploration and development into electricity.

� Small Hydro Power - Is derived from the potential energy available from perennial streams due to height difference between its headand the tail water to which it discharges. Power is generated by mechanical conversion of the energy into electricity through a turbine at high efficiency rates. Nigeria is highly endowed with abundant water resources, with exploitable hydro potential of 12,220MW.

� Data on these potentials can be obtained from the Regional Centre for Small Hydro Power located in Abuja

RURAL ELECTRIFICATION THROUGH RENEWABLES

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� Reliable and affordable electricity supply to rural areas will assist in developing their productive capacity in agriculture, agro-processing, manufacturing, and services.

� Rural electrification is not focused on “unit” houses but on electrifying households to reduce household drudgery and attendant increase in productivity.

� The capital cost of renewable energy development for rural electrification is best met in the medium term from a mixture oflocal equity capital (community and private entity) and a counterpart funding from REA.

� The electricity networks are structured for ownership by those with the most important stakes.

RURAL ELECTRIFICATION THROUGH RENEWABLES (Cont’d)

� Community participation is now widely accepted as a pre-requisite to ensuring equity and sustainability of local infrastructure investments.

� External assistance is also needed for experience in design and management of rural electrification schemes.

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INNOVATIVE RENEWABLE ENERGY POWER GENERATION PROMOTION EFFORTS OF REA

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� The rural electrification policy and strategy of the Federal Government of Nigeria is moving away from a centrally planned approach to rural electrification. It rather embraces a bottoms-up method; REA is promoting a market-oriented approach to rural electrification. By this, the Agency sets the general policy direction for rural electrification activities while the development of projects will come from the communities and operators that identify a particular need.

� Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) are encouraged, whereby the private sector and community based organizations will be increasingly responsible for much of the service delivery with minimum necessary financial support from the public sector.

INNOVATIVE RENEWABLE ENERGY POWER GENERATION PROMOTION EFFORTS OF REA (Cont’d)

� REA also encourages rural electrification by non-networked single-user systems, acknowledging the following:

� Renewable energy power projects, often have higher initial capital cost per KW delivered, have the need for granting capital subsidies from the Rural Electrification Fund.

� To promote the use of renewables in rural electrification, REA is working towards a low import tax policy for renewable energy components.

� REA will introduce supportive measures to ensure the growth of local manufacturing of renewable energy technology components in the near future to ensure sustainance of deployed infrastructure.

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REA PROMOTION OF RENEWABLE ENERGY POWER SUPPLY IN THE COUNTRY

Agency’s on-going Activities:� REA in liaison with the 36 states, has embarked on the identification of five (5) potential sites in each state for the development of distributed generation systems (off-grid) employing renewable energy resources (-solar and mini – hydro).

� Exploration of fuel/energy saving options in power generation is also considered and pilot projects are proposed in this regard.

� Consideration is also given to conversion of flared gas (where available) to generate electricity in some parts of the country.

� REA has received approval to execute 12nos. Pilot renewable energy (off-grid) rural electrification scheme (i.e 2nos in each geo-political zone), on completion, these schemes will provide off-grid renewable electricity supply to 12 rural communities across the country in the 1st phase.

� The Agency has received reports from six consulting firms that were engaged to conduct nationwide studies on identified sites. They are to develop designs for deployment of pilot renewable energy power generation and distribution.

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ON-GOING RENEWABLE ENERGY POWER GENERATION SCHEMES BY MIN. OF ENERGY

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Pilot Projects under development by the Federal Ministry of Energy in three states of the Federation:

Name of State

Name of Facility Qty Remark

Jigawa

Public facility (Mosque) 1 Installation completed

Battery charge station with 20 batteries (BCS) for individual home

1 Installation completed

Solar Home System (SHS) 40 Installation completed

Street Lighting 10 Installation is 80% completed

ON-GOING RENEWABLE ENERGY POWER GENERATION SCHEMES BY MIN. OF ENERGY (Cont’d)

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Name of State

Name of Facility Qty Remark

Ondo

Public facility – Medical Centre, this involve the installation of solar refrigerator

1 Installation of arrays completed but awaiting the installation of the solar refrigerator

Solar Home System (SHS) 60 Solar panels installed, electrical filling completed but charge controller is currently under installation

Street Lighting 10 Solar panel is completed but charge controller is still under installation

ON-GOING RENEWABLE ENERGY POWER GENERATION SCHEMES BY MIN. OF ENERGY (Cont’d

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Name of State

Name of Facility Qty Remark

Imo

Public facility: The public facilities here involves lighting of community hall

1 All the installation are 100% completed

Solar Home System (SHS) 80 All the installation are 100% completed

Street Lighting 10 All the installations have been completed

CHALLENGES IN RURAL ELECTRIFICATION USING RENEWABLE ENERGY IN NIGERIA

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� High initial capital cost.� Initial reluctance of government and industry practitioners to move from well known technologies to relatively new ones.

� Low rate of return on investment, need for subsidies.� Inadequate trained manpower to support deployment, operation and maintenance of Renewable energy technology.

� Inadequate awareness on the potentials of renewable energy sources.

� Non-enforcement of policy provisions on conventional/renewable energy mix for the country.

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� The impact of Rural electrification target on rural communities can be enumerated thus:� Flow of investment to the rural areas� Creation of employment opportunities� Reduction in rural – urban migration� Poverty reduction and increased Gross National Income (GNI)� Enhanced agricultural activities� Enhanced education of the rural dwellers� Improved healthcare.� Improved income generation in the rural areas� Opportunity to explore unutilized energy resources.� Kick-start and grow cottage industries� Access remote and often neglected communities.

ENVISAGED IMPACT OF RURAL ELECTRIFICATION THROUGH RENEWABLE ENERGY

ENVISAGED IMPACT OF RURAL ELECTRIFICATION THROUGH RENEWABLE ENERGY (Cont’d)

� Creates environmentally friendly and emission free atmosphere.

� Enhances the social structure and improves security in the community.

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CONCLUSION21

� Delivering reliable, affordable and sustainable rural electricity has become our country’s priority.

� We do not also undermine the associated challenges.

� Exploring renewable energy technology in this service provision and the inherent economic benefits is a current international trend.

� We in REA are committed to attaining 60% rural access to electricity by year 2020.

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Thank you