Nigerian govt determined to achieve 30 Gigawatts energy by 2030-Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has reaffirmed the Nigerian government’s commitment to achieve the target of 30 gigawatts of energy by 2030.

The President made the remarks during a discussion panel on Just Energy Transition at the ongoing US-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington.

He took advantage of the opportunity to lay forth his administration’s comprehensive Energy Transition Plan in response to climate change challenges.

President Buhari said, “as part of the National Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Policy, we set the vision 30:30:30 which aims at achieving 30GW of electricity by 2030 with renewable energy contributing 30% of the energy mix. Last year, Nigeria became the first African country to develop a detailed Energy Transition Plan to tackle both energy poverty and climate change, and deliver SDG7 by 2030 and net-zero by 2060.

“Our Federal Executive Council approved the plan earlier this year and adopted it as a national policy. As part of the plan, we intend to completely eliminate the use of petrol/diesel generators by 2060 and therefore need to deploy renewables, particularly solar, at an unprecedented scale. For instance, the Energy Transition Plan requires that 5.3 GW of Solar be deployed annually until 2060 to achieve our targets.”

Buhari stressed that the Nigerian government has embarked on several reforms, one of the best in Africa, on mini-grid regulations as well as the integration of renewable energy into the national grid. He disclosed some of the reforms which have positively impacted the energy sector in Nigeria.

“Our aggressive power sector reforms have resulted in cost-reflective tariffs in the power sector for the first time since privatization. Under the Nigeria Electrification Project, over 4 million people have been impacted through solar mini-grids and solar stand-alone systems. With respect to hydro, the Zungeru hydropower project is nearing completion and will add 700MW in capacity to the grid.”

While also stressing the resources that the administration has committed towards the realisation of the vision, the Nigerian leader however, called for “considerable financial and technical support” to achieve the goals.

President Buhari also called on US businessmen and the global community to tap “into the innovation and potential returns in our enormous market which is yet to be fully optimized.”