Nigeria‘s population of about 170 million people share 4,000 Megawatt of electricity between them. That amounts to about 3 light bulbs per person. However, Nigeria sees itself as a future world economic power. So how is Nigeria going to power its envisaged economic growth? What is Nigeria’s energy future? This article is based on a lecture held at the Lagos Business School by Hans Verolme, international expert specialising on green development solutions, climate and energy.  

Despite the acute lack of electricity and the huge potentials for solar, wind and biomass in Nigeria, the renewable energy market is very small. Is Nigeria addicted to oil and gas? Or is there a policy window of opportunity to increase the amount of renewable energy that would benefit small businesses and households? An assessment by Christine K, with a policy advice on Pay As You Go Solar for Nigeria.

Many Nigerians have grown skeptical about the power of solar. The general impression is that solar energy cannot provide a lot of power, that ‘it’s not bright’ and that it breaks down after just a few months. One solar engineer in the capital city of Abuja has gone all the way to demonstrate that this impression is wrong: He has built a block of apartments which are run entirely on renewable energy.

Nigeria produces 4,500 MW of electricity, a mere 7% of what Brazil produces per capita. The country will need 200,000 MW of power in the next fifteen years. The abundant natural gas alone cannot provide for this need. A Fact Sheet on the potentials of Renewable Energies as a power tool against corruption.