Minister of State Mohammad Wakil said Nigeria had stores of coal that were currently not being put to use. He said investing in coal-fired plants would utilise the country’s resources and help meet its goal of producing 30% of its power from coal plants, according to the National Mirror.
Nigerian Minister of Power Chinedu Nebo said using available coal resources would allow the nation to produce a further 5000 megawatts over its current generating capacity.
The northern African country is also targeting renewables to boost its energy resources, according to Nebo.
“There is no way our country will do a good job in providing electricity in the right quantity and quality for our people depending on only one source of generation, it is not possible,” Nebo said.
Nigeria is targeting solar and biomass energy generation to increase electricity production after signing a MoU with Solius NGPC, People’s Home Association and Solar Force Nigeria to build solar facilities around the country.
People’s Home Association chief operating officer Rasaki Porbeni said the company would start by providing 500MW of solar power through five 100MW facilities in different locations, Premium Times reported.
Solar Force, meanwhile, will produce 1MW of solar energy in 200 separate villages.
Nigeria currently only uses hydropower as a renewable energy method. According to the latest energy generation method data, the nation generated about 2100MW of electricity from hydropower in 2011.
Solius NGPC is expected to set up 300MW capacity, though the size and type of the projects is unknown. The company said it would also set up a training centre for power sector professionals.
These deals come on the heels of SkyPower FAS Energy signing a series of agreements earlier this year to set up 3GW of solar power capacity in the country – capacity that would be added through utility-scale projects and represented an investment worth $US5 billion ($A67 billion).
Two US-based companies also pledged last month to set up a total solar power capacity of 1.2GW by 2017. The projects will require a cumulative investment of $2 billion dollars and, once operational, will generate enough power to meet the demands of a million homes.
A consortium of American investors in renewable energy, under the auspices of Motir Seaspire, earlier signed a MoU with the federal government to deliver 1200MW of solar powered electricity in Nigeria in two years.
