In a bid to bridge the energy gap in Nigeria, the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) and the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP) have unveiled an ambitious roadmap to develop a 20 gigawatt (GW) renewable energy market over the next decade. This plan focuses on expanding distributed renewable energy sources and battery storage solutions.
The unveiling coincided with a visit from representatives of GEAPP, the Rockefeller Foundation, and SEforAll, underscoring Nigeria’s progress in transitioning to clean energy.
Ije Ikoku Okeke, RMI’s Managing Director, highlighted the benefits of the initiative, noting its potential to increase revenue for electricity distribution companies (DisCos), significantly reduce carbon emissions, and address Nigeria’s power supply challenges. Okeke emphasized the economic advantages for consumers and the expanded opportunities for renewable energy developers.
A recent SDG7 tracking report revealed slow progress towards universal access to sustainable energy by 2030, with Nigeria having over 85 million people without electricity—the largest such population globally. RMI’s collaboration with five Nigerian DisCos identified a substantial market opportunity for distributed energy resources (DERs), projecting a national potential of approximately 2 GW per year over the next decade.
Okeke stressed the importance of DisCos partnering with private developers to leverage DERs, addressing power availability and reliability issues while increasing revenue through enhanced sales and service charges.
Joseph Nganga, GEAPP’s Interim CEO, emphasized the roadmap’s role in accelerating DER deployment and providing clean, reliable, and affordable electricity to millions of Nigerians. The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) is also involved, aiming for at least 10 percent of DisCo energy to come from embedded generation by next year, with half sourced from renewables.
