Mohammed Shosanya
TotalEnergies,has said that Nigeria has a substantial opportunity to develop its abundant renewable energy resources and unlock low-carbon growth, which can help the country meet its energy needs, power sustainable economic development, and achieve its net-zero emissions target.
Disclosing this at a panel session on “Navigating Nigeria’s pathway to Achieving Energy Security Sustainability On The Journey To Net Zero”, at the ongoing NOG Energy Week in Abuja, Managing Director, TotalEnergies Renewable DG Nigeria, Adewale Fayemi, said that the country can develop its renewables and increase its gas production.
Fayemi was represented by General Manager, Renewable explorer, TotalEnergies, Omotayo Hassan.
He maintained that with financing for hydrocarbons continually on the decrease, it was important that Nigeria move with the trend.
He added: “ I’m sure when the minister spoke, the first 18 minutes was about gas and at the end he talked about renewables, very little. The reality is, the train is moving whether we like it or not. We are either going to join that train or be left behind, that’s just the fact of it.
“We have gas, we have to develop all of the market, we have to use our gas to develop this country and industrialise and increase our power generation. But we also have to look at the other energy mix that is going on, that everybody is doing so that we can increase our power generation.”
Noting that $4billion is committed yearly to renewable projects, the TotalEnergies Renewable DG for Nigeria,he said the country can achieve industrialisation and gas production just as it develops its renewables.
“Historically, TotalEnergies is a hydrocarbon company. We do EP, we are in the downstream business, we sell AGO, PMS, APK, lubricants but, we have as a company committed significant amounts of resources, $4 billion a year into renewables, approved by shareholders not just talk. We are going to do 100GW of renewable energy all over the world by 2030.
“Now, I am going to bring you back. This morning, there was a lot of talk about gas. We need to look at our gas infrastructure and develop our country, and I agree with one hundred per cent. But the reality is, we can develop our renewables without stopping our gas production and industrialising our country. That is a fact,” he said.
Fayemi explained that there was a need for the government to be willing to put a strong commercial framework in place to attract investors.
“Honorable minister, you said people should come and invest, I can say here that we, TotalEnergies, and I know a lot of developers are willing to invest significant amounts of capital into the renewable energy space. Am talking about large solar farms, significant large-scale projects that will help us develop and increase our generation capacity in this country.
” As we develop our gas infrastructure on the ground, we can build 50, 100, 150MW of renewable power or even bigger. We need to come up with a strong commercial framework that gives investors comfort. That they know they can recoup the capital that they put into the market with reasonable return. When they do that and that is lacking today.
“I was part of the team that set up the Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading and I worked there for 5 years. And I was part of the team that negotiated the 14 solar projects; those projects have been stalled for one reason or the other. But the key reason why they haven’t gotten to commercial close is because there is no commercial structure to risk capital to build those projects,” he further explained.
He therefore urged the public and private sector players to take advantage of the huge funding in the renewable sector.
He said, financing is very crucial in the renewable space and the country needs to tap into it.
