The Minister of Power, Mr Goddy Jedy-Agba, has again expressed Federal Government’s determination to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty through its Energy Transition Plan (ETP).
He announced this during 2022 Nigeria Energy Forum Day 2, Virtual Edition held on Monday following the Day 1 physical event held in Lagos.
He maintained that the Energy Transition Plan will lift over 100 Nigerians out of poverty and drive economic growth of the country.
He added:”It will also bring modern energy services to the full population and managing the expected long-term job loss in the oil sector due to global decarbonization. The plan focuses on the rapid build out of sustainable energy systems to tackle energy poverty in the nation”
He explained that in designing the plan, key targets from relevant policies and initiatives such as the 2020 Economic Sustainability Plan, the Nigeria Electrification Project, the National Decarbonization Program, and the Presidential Power Initiative.
He said the plan had been approved by the Federal Executive Council and adopted as national policy.
He added:”An Energy Transition Implementation Working Group (ETWG) has been established to drive the implementation of the ETP along with key International partners. The ETWG is chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and comprises of several key ministers including the Ministers for Environment, Finance, Works and Housing, Petroleum Resources, Foreign Affairs and Power.
“The Working Group and its secretariat, the Energy Transition Office, have been engaging with in-country stakeholders, development partners, financiers and the international community for the delivery of the plan”
He added that the ETP analysis shows that delivering Nigeria’s net-zero target requires 1.9 trillion U.S dollars spending up to 2060, including 410 billion U.S Dollars above business-as-usual spending.
Earlier, Ms Inga Stefanowicz, the Team Leader, Green Economy Co-operation Section, European Union Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, said Nigeria is not standing alone in this ongoing transition.
The European Union will contribute some 400 million Euros worth of projects and programmes to the ETP,she said.
“This amount may seem modest when compared with the needs and the ETP estimates, but it is also the role of our funds to act as catalysers of change, reforms, private sector and international development finance investment.We are proud to have achieved such positive spillovers for Nigeria already and we look forward to working together more,” she added.
Dr Daniel Oluwole Adeuyi, Chairman 2022 NEF said, “practical actions on project financing, people development and policy implementation must progress at pace to achieve the target of 30GW installed generation capacity by 2030 with 30 per cent share of renewable energy Nigeria”.
Adeuyi said that the NEF2022 webcast was focused on capacity building for energy professionals, policy makers, business leaders and consumers.
He said that it demonstrated cross-industry collaboration and contributions towards ensuring a sustainable, just and people-centric energy transition.
Speaking, Engr. Adekunle Makinde, NEF2022 Co-Chairman, said over 25 speakers out of which 50 per cent were women energy leaders/professionals participated across four different top-class hands-on training workshops on webcast, which attracted 300 subscribers.
He said the workshops include: Energy Transition Plenary, supported by the Ministry of Power; Improving Utilities Processes and Business Models to enable Distributed Energy Resources Adoption, by USAID/PowerAfrica NPSP.