The Federal Government has said it is targeting improved electricity supply through increased deployment and sustainable management of renewable energy assets across Nigeria.
The Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, stated this on Wednesday at the launch of the Renewable Asset Management Company (RAMCO) and a stakeholders’ media engagement session.
Tegbe said renewable energy was becoming an increasingly important part of Nigeria’s electricity strategy as the government works towards a more diversified and reliable power system.
“Renewable energy is not peripheral to Nigeria’s power architecture. It is an increasingly important pillar of our power technology deployment strategy,” he said.
The minister said the government’s plan was to combine grid supply, embedded generation, interconnected and isolated mini-grids, distributed renewables and storage with other technologies suited to specific communities and economic clusters.
According to him, renewable assets could be deployed closer to demand to improve access to electricity, strengthen public institutions and build resilience across the wider power system.
He said the launch of RAMCO was part of broader reforms aimed at ensuring the sustainable management of power infrastructure and improving electricity availability.
“RAMCO, therefore, forms an important part of the broader reforms across the power sector, designed to strengthen the efficient and sustainable management of power assets and, ultimately, to ensure that electricity is available where it is needed, when it is needed, and at a price that is both appropriate and sustainable,” Tegbe said.
He explained that the company would provide a link between infrastructure deployment and sustainability, public investment and private capital.
Tegbe noted that Nigeria had for too long faced a situation where it possessed significant power assets and energy resources but still struggled to provide dependable electricity.
“Nigeria has lived for too long with an embarrassing paradox: we are rich in power assets, energy resources and installed infrastructure, yet poor in availability of dependable electricity,” he said.
The minister said RAMCO would be expected to preserve the value of renewable energy assets, improve their uptime and availability, establish transparent performance benchmarks and enforce credible maintenance and replacement regimes.
He stressed that the success of the company would not be measured by the number of assets under its management, but by their operational performance, reliability of electricity delivered and additional investment attracted to the sector.
According to him, success should be measured by the number of assets that remain operational, improved electricity reliability, better-performing public institutions, reduced deterioration of power infrastructure and additional investment mobilised.
Tegbe said the Federal Government’s ambition extended beyond simply increasing electricity supply, stressing that dependable power was critical to Nigeria’s economic development.
“Electricity is not the destination. Our ambition is bigger than ending darkness. Our ambition is to use electricity to build prosperity,” he said.
He added that reliable electricity would help make Nigeria more competitive in manufacturing, power digital infrastructure, improve healthcare delivery, modernise agriculture and expand economic opportunities in rural communities.
The minister also said RAMCO would support efforts to attract domestic and international capital into Nigeria’s power sector on commercial terms.
