The Federal Government has estimated that harnessing investment opportunities in the Nigerian Electricity Transition Plan (ETP) will generate up to $23billion, according to the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu.
Adelabu, who spoke at the 2nd German-Nigerian Symposium on Green Hydrogen, yesterday, said: “The ETP creates significant investment opportunities such as the establishment and expansion of industries related to solar energy, green hydrogen, and electric vehicles.
“$1.9trillion is required to get Nigeria to Net Zero by 2060, including $410billion above usual spending. This additional cost translates to about $10billion annually.
“A $23billion investment opportunity has been identified based on current in-country programmes and projects that are directly related to the just energy transition.”
According to him, the opportunities are not restricted to revenue generation alone as the plan is also expected to create about 340,000 jobs by 2030, and 840,000 jobs by 2060 driven mainly by power, and transport sectors.
A $23billion investment opportunity has been identified based on current in-country programmes and projects that are directly related to the just energy transition.
The Executive Secretary, Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Ogbonnaya Orji, noted that in the short term, Nigeria’s gas could be used to produce blue hydrogen, which, though not as clean as green hydrogen, would be useful in the journey of cleaner energy sources.
“And sadly, Nigeria is still battling to put in place and embrace efficient gas commercialisation and utilisation policy. For instance, NEITI’s recent report disclosed a total unremitted revenue of over $8.2billion. These revenues arose from liabilities of government agencies and oil/gas companies.
“A breakdown of the unremitted payments in our report showed outstanding gas royalty of $559.8million and another unremitted sum of $828.8million from unpaid gas flare penalty which indicated that more gas was flared during the period than utilised posing serious dangers to the global zero emissions agenda.
“NEITI is working closely with the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission on its ongoing gas commercialisation policy to ensure transparent and effective implementation to reverse the trend of gas flare,” Orji stated.
On his part, the Country Director, GIZ Nigeria and ECOWAS, Markus Wagner, said: “It is crucial to recognise that green hydrogen has the potential to revolutionise our energy landscape. It offers a path to reducing carbon emissions, diversifying energy sources, and boosting economic growth.”
