UNDP fixes June for Nigeria’s clean energy project

THE United Nation Development Programme (UNDP) says it will implement the Global Environment Facility (GEF) sponsored project aimed at promoting clean technologies and renewable energy in the country in June.

Mr Etiosa Uyigue, the National Coordinator, GEF/UNDP Energy Efficiency Programme in Nigeria, said this in an interview with the New Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Monday.

Uyigue said that the organisation recently organised an inception workshop on the development of the project document and looked at ways to woo the private sector to invest in renewable energy.

He said that the project would promote low carbon energy solutions in Nigeria.

“ GEF is sponsoring the project with about 4.4million dollars but we are looking at counterpart funding from private investment.

“This is because for every GEF project, there must be a counterpart funding from the government or any other investor.

“For the counterpart in this project, we are looking at 150 million dollars from private investment.

“This is to serve as catalyst to private investment in the renewable energy sector within the next five years in terms of generating electricity,’’ he said.

According to him, electricity is the bedrock of any economy while energy stimulates economic growth.

Uyigue, who said small and medium scale enterprises need energy if they must develop, added:

“Let me say this that the UN is championing renewable energy globally under its Sustainable Energy for all Initiative launched by the UN Secretary General, Ban ki Moon.

“The advantage of renewable energy is that it can be decentralized; part of what the project will do is to encourage private investors into it.

“Government cannot do everything alone and its investment is not sufficient; we need private investment and other sectors to invest in renewable energy.’’

He also said that key components of the project would focus on policies and regulations in order to ascertain whether they had been favourable.

Uyigue said where some of the policies were in draft format, the project would support their institutionalisation while supporting the endorsement of others.

“The other component is to look at financial de-risking instrument for private investment in on-grid renewable power generation.

“When you generate a larger energy, you have to connect it to the grid; so part of what the project will be looking at is the assessment of the grid system.

“ The assessment of the grid system is to see how practicable it is to pass whatever will be generated to the grid, a kind of grid assessment.

“There will also be a demonstration project with about 100 mega watt added to the grid for renewable energy,’’ he said.

The project, he added, would help to build the capacity of the private sector.

“ Renewable energy is a little bit technical, so people need to understand it and these are part of the things that we should be looking at in the project,’’ he said.(NAN)