‘Nigeria needs $15.6b in three years to tackle energy deficiency’

Expert blames low tariffs for outages
The President of the Nigerian Association for Energy Economics (NAEE), Prof. Wumi Iledare, has disclosed that about $15.6billion would be required to provide stable electricity in the country.

He made the disclosure yesterday in Abuja, at the 2017 World Energy Day.

According to him, the Federal Government and the private sector could mobilise the resources, if the right policies are put in place.

Iledare also canvassed the revival of the oil and gas sectors to actualise the dream.

The NAEE president urged support for both state and local councils to participate in the power sector development, through the provision of an enabling framework.

The association lamented the inability of Nigeria to turn her huge renewable and non-renewable energy potential into realised dream to support rapid economic growth, job creation and poverty reduction.

Iledare urged a change in the country by developing a long-term plan to promote and deepen the role of green energy solution for a sustainable future.

According to the NAEE, the world is entering into a new energy transition that would relegate fossil fuel to the background.

Iledare said a combination of breakthrough in technology, improved batteries and huge private investments in energy efficiency, was forcing a new consensus among energy users and producers.

He cited modern energy technology, international energy and climate change protocols and agreements, as well as increasing concern about the future of the earth as other factors.

He disclosed that some oil-rich countries like Saudi Arabia and Norway were already planning for a post-oil era, to adopt the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model to run the sector.

Also, an oil and gas expert, Dr. Tim Okon, has blamed the adoption of flat tariffs for every segment of the society for the inability to generate steady electricity.

He solicited fairness on the part of the consumers, as well as the power generating firms and other stakeholders to drive the sector.

Okon explained that though there are competitive demands for scarce resources, government must prioritise energy to exit recession and sustain development.

“It has been estimated that between 2017 and 2020, Nigeria government would need over $1.6 billion to develop or complete critical infrastructure in generation, transmission and distribution of power. It would also need $14 billion to start and complete critical projects in the oil and gas sectors,” he said.

The expert canvassed the right incentives, policies and implementation of pro-market policies, to make the private sector to absolve a large chunk of these investments.

Okon stressed that the issue of credibility and seriousness of government was very important in the drive, as well as the “political will to let go some decrepit downstream and assets.”