To create a sustainable framework for Nigeria’s off-grid sector, the managing director of clean energy technology producer, WATT Renewable “WATT”, Oluwole Eweje has identified relaxing the financing requirement for renewable energy developers and creating incentive regime as some of the ways the government can foster electrification and localisation of the solar value chain.
Nigeria is endowed with abundant energy resources, both conventional and renewable that is enough to meet the power needs of both urban and rural Nigerians. Yet, the country has one of the lowest supply rates of electricity per capita in Africa with many rural communities lacking access to electric power.
Most experts recommend that the government must remove basic bureaucratic hurdles to effectively put into action an orderly energy policy that would allow the country to unlock its huge natural renewable resources such as solar PV, wind power, small hydropower, biomass among others to avoid a worsening energy supply scenario and provide feasible electricity to rural dwellers.
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In line with this, developing a sustainable local supply chain in Nigeria is seen as indispensable, however, scaling is required.
“The government should put structures in place to relax the financing requirement for renewable energy developers while also reducing the current exorbitant importation tax requirement on renewable energy equipment such as solar panels, batteries, balance of system among others,” Eweje said in a statement provided to Businessday.
He advised the government to institute an incentive regime for commercial and residential adopters of renewable energy.
“The government should also increase support for incubator programs for renewable energy developers such as the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) program which would increase ease of doing business,” Eweje said.
Concerning how cooperative the regulators have been in doing business in Nigeria, Eweje added, “Nigerian regulators have been extremely cooperative and supportive of the installations and the work that we’ve been doing in the community.”
