Nigeria will need 50,000mega (Mw) Electricity.

The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Petroleum
Resources, Dr. Jamila Shu’ara, yesterday said Nigeria
needs over 50,000megawatts (Mw) of electricity to
effectively develop its economy.

Delivering the keynote address at a workshop on
renewable energy in Abuja, she said for Nigeria to take
its position as a leading economy in the world, it must
generate sufficient electricity to drive its socio-economic
development.
Represented by  a director at the ministry, Mr. Armayaw
Korfi, she noted  that experience had shown that Nigeria
must explore all possible means to expand energy
access if it must make head way a nation in power
generation.

She said: “While the power requirement to drive Nigeria
socio-economic development stands at over 50,000Mw,
we currently generate less than a tenth of that. Similarly,
we are not able to make any local contribution to the
ethanol blending project, which was aimed at reducing
emission from fossil fuel.

“Can we all imagine what economic development that
would attend to Nigeria if we are generating about
20,000Mw of electricity from renewable sources, or
locally providing ethanol for E10 blending?

“Definitely, the economic landscape of this nation and its
people will dramatically change. It is only then that we
can confidently take our potential position in the world
as a leading economy.”

Shu’ara however said to translate the potentials of
renewable energy sources in Nigeria to mechanism of
economic development, capacities must be built to
identify, explore and manage the renewable options.

This, according to her, was why the one-day workshop
was organised so that stakeholders could chart a way
forward.
She said the ministry had identified the need to build
necessary capacities in the renewable energy value
chain in Nigeria.