With a population of ~220 MN inhabitants and a GDP per capita of EUR € 2,160 in 2022, Nigeria is the largest economy in Sub-Saharan Africa. Yet, limitations in the power sector constrain its growth and lead to poverty and a low standard of living. Nigerian households and businesses rely heavily on diesel-powered generators. Over 70% of the firms own or share these generators, while 40% of the population has no access to grid power. At current, solar energy is seen as an effective renewable energy source to escape this dependency on diesel generators and foster the energy transition in Nigeria.
To foster the implementation of solar energy and reduce diesel consumption in Nigeria, the solar Impact Cluster RenewableTechNigeria focuses on facilitating, demonstrating, and supporting the roll-out of solar hybrid systems, specifically in the B2B environment. The overall goal is to demonstrate the potential to replace the numerous diesel generators, that currently power the economy, with solar hybrid generators. Ultimately, to foster the development and implementation of renewable energy products and services in Nigeria.
Over the past months, we have joined the efforts of our Dutch and Nigerian partners SEECE and Rubitec Solar to develop a training program tailored to the Nigerian needs on cold storage of Dawson Group, solar equipment of Independent Energy, and battery storage of Zenon Energy. The project partners are thrilled to collaborate on the project, as you can read in their motivation:
Bolade Soremekun, Rubitec Solar: “With 218 million inhabitants, Nigeria is the most populous African country. Its need for energy is huge. If we don’t meet the country’s energy needs in a sustainable way, the effects will be devastating. Now already Nigeria is dealing with the effects of climate change, which we’re not even responsible for ourselves because of our relatively low emissions. This year we’ve been hit by the worst floods in decades, which have taken hundreds of lives. This past week I was still seeing film clips of people fleeing their homes and being swallowed up by a mass of churning water. It was frightful to see.”
Ballard-Asare Diako, SEECE: “My previous similar project in Nigeria failed because there was a lack of feet on the ground, proper distribution capacity, and a lack of training for Nigerian employees. I am so happy this consortium allows SEECE to contribute to a successful project where we can really stimulate the energy transition. In addition, the development of the curriculum is essential for SEECE/HAN. It provides us with an avenue to network with Dutch companies and acquaint ourselves with their innovations. These will help to enrich our internal educational materials and research programs and to ensure that we have students and researchers who are up-to-date and market-ready.”
RenewableTechNigeria is a public-private partnership of leading companies active in various parts of the solar sector. The partnership aims to strengthen business relations between stakeholders in the Dutch and Nigerian solar sectors, resulting in increased trade, investment, and cooperation, and to boost the development of the solar sector in Nigeria.
Next on the agenda is the impact tour to Nigeria in April. Our colleagues Amber and Claudy are looking forward to visiting potential demonstration partners and discussing future knowledge transfer and training opportunities. Reach out to them in case you would like to know more about the Nigerian solar sector and partnership.
The partnership is coordinated by Larive International and Naijalink Limited . It includes seven other companies and knowledge institutes Dawsongroup plc Independent Energy BV Rubitec Nigeria Limited Sustainable Electrical Energy Centre of Expertise SolarCentric Technologies SOSAI Renewable Energies Company and Zenon Energy . The initiative is co-funded by the Netherlands and Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO).
