Companies are launching a 10-year action plan to plug Nigeria’s energy supply gap

…The goal is to obtain 20 GW from renewable energy

The Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) and the Global Energy Alliance for People and the Planet (GEAPP) have unveiled a comprehensive action plan to address the market opportunity of over 20 GW in Nigeria over 10 years.

According to the companies, this distributed, utility-shared energy source provides a unique opportunity to address energy supply challenges, increase developer presence in the private sector, improve customer service and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The report titled “Action Plan for Utility-Enabled Distributed Energy Resources in Nigeria” was launched during the visit of high-level delegations of GEAPP, Rockefeller Foundation and SEforAll to Nigeria’s successful energy transition projects.

Speaking at the launch of the report in Lagos, Wale Aboyade, interim vice president for GEAAP’s work/impact in Africa, said the action plan shows how to increase revenues for distribution companies (DisCos), reduce carbon emissions by 33 million tonnes of CO2e per year and help close power gap.

He said that through the strategic business models identified in the report, customers would benefit from reduced energy costs by replacing expensive, polluting fossil fuel generators, and renewable energy developers would gain access to a larger, more attractive set of project sites.

“The report comes on the heels of the release of the findings of the SDG7 monitoring report, which showed a shift away from the UN goal of achieving universal access to sustainable energy by 2030.”

“With over 85 million people without access to energy, Nigeria is home to the highest number of unelectrified people in the world,” he said.

He further said that lack of adequate and reliable energy is hampering development, adding that the IMF estimates that it costs the Nigerian economy $29 billion annually.

“DisCos are struggling to achieve the key performance indicators set by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission due to high total technical, commercial and collection (ATC&C) losses, non-cost reflective rates and low revenue collection,” he said.

Joseph Nganga, Interim CEO of GEAPP, said: GEAPP is excited to partner with RMI to enable DisCos and developers to leverage this incredible opportunity that can help Nigeria achieve its energy access and transformation goals and pave the way for millions of Nigerians to connect to clean energy sources. , reliable and affordable electricity.

“The energy access figures published this week are a wake-up call. This moment requires strategic cooperation and the implementation of innovative solutions and business models that can meet the demand for clean energy in Nigeria and the world,” he said.

RMI conducted a least cost analysis that revealed significant opportunities to deploy distributed energy resources (DERs) across the country.

The data suggests that there is a market opportunity of 1 gigawatt per year for these 5 discos, equating to approximately 2 GW per year across the country over the next decade, for a total of over 20 GW by 2033.

The roadmap estimates that deploying the required DER capacity to bridge the supply gap for all 11 discoms represents an investment opportunity of more than $14 billion over the next ten years in generation assets alone, which will reach more than $18 billion when accounting for distribution network upgrades.

Suleiman Babamanu, program director of the Africa Energy Program in Nigeria, said in his new report that the five DisCos on board have a unique opportunity to reap the benefits of utility-based DERs by partnering with private project contractors and stakeholders.

Babamanu no longer needs to view these new grid developers as competitors, but as collaborators that enable DisCos to address long-standing power availability and reliability challenges in targeted areas while increasing revenues from increased power sales and service fees.

He noted that this new cooperation and partnership would mean more democratized energy and reduced carbon pollution in Nigeria.

Utility-enabled DERs can reduce dependence on the national grid, reduce ATC&C losses, increase the share of renewable energy, reduce customer churn, and improve DisCo revenue collection.

By enabling DER developers to generate electricity and sell directly to customers with supply gaps, DisCos can better match local consumption and eliminate distribution bottlenecks, creating a win-win model for developers, utilities and customers. DERs offer a win-win model for developers, utilities and customers.