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Providing energy to rural and urban areas in Nigeria, as in
many developing countries has proved to be a great
challenge. With increasing population, the pressures on the
infrastructure for the supply of conventional energy
resources will continue to increase. Economic growth, rapid
industrialization and high standard of living of the global
population demand more and more energy in different forms.
Since the quantity of available energy from conventional
resources shrinks day-by-day, development of newer or
renewable energy technologies and improvement of
conventional technologies become necessary to meet the
energy demand in the future. The demand for energy in
Nigeria can be met by this method as most of the demand from
the National grid can be reduced considerably because
several mega-watts of energy can be generated from renewable
source. Currently, solar, wind, biomass, etc are in
abundance all year round in Nigeria and largely untapped.
For an energy source to be renewed, it means that its
harvesting, conversion and use would occur in a sustainable
manner and avoid any negative impacts on the people and
natural environment. Renewable energy (RE) reality in
Nigeria will be dependent on adequate government policy,
financial and technical capability and public acceptance for
their installation. Renewable energy (RE) resources abound
in Nigeria but have not been fully exploited. This
presentation examines the state of energy production and
utilization; discusses the potentials for renewable energy
and major obstacles militating against their developments.
Keywords: Renewable energy, solar, biomass, economic growth,
rural Nigeria |
