Spain Plans For Renewable Energy Projects In Nigeria’s Power Sector

The Spanish government has begun the process of seeking investment opportunities in Nigeria.

The minister of power, Adebayo Adelabu, had advocated appropriate and enabling legislation to convince power sector investors of the Nigerian government’s seriousness in its power sector reforms.

The minister spoke while welcoming Julian Sell, the Spanish Ambassador to Nigeria, to his office on Wednesday in Abuja.

A press statement his office issued yesterday noted that Adelabu said to drive the reforms necessary in the power sector, there must be appropriate legislation adding that the market should also determine the operation of the sector, make appropriate policies to drive investment, sector liquidity, and market governance all which he described as the bane of the sector.

 “There must be a collaboration between the government and other stakeholders”, he emphasized.

While addressing the Minister on the purpose of his visit, Sell acknowledged the crucial role of the power sector, saying that he is aware that the Minister runs a Ministry that is crucial to Nigeria, its people and even for security development.

He commended the Minister for the work he has done in the power sector since his assumption of duty adding that in his interactions with Spanish companies, the question about the power sector in Nigeria and how to play more active roles was always coming up.

“We are trying to add a more ambitious agenda to our present role in Nigeria. When it comes to Nigeria, we have always worked with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), we have a strong programme with ECOWAS that covers many sectors and one of them is in the area of renewable energy.”

He spoke further on the Spanish government’s support of ECOWAS in renewable energy.

“We consider ourselves the founding fathers of the ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency. Through grants from the Spanish government, we have been part of the centre’s activities with a number of our programmes. We also want to be active in renewable energy projects in Nigeria.

“We are interested in electrification projects in rural areas. Presently, we are working with a private company in Rivers State, it is part of the programme we have with the European Union and I want to inform you that we are starting another phase of that programme soon. When we are clearer about what the role of the Ministry would be, we will come back to you and your team”, he informed the minister.

Speaking further, Sell said Spain has a strong private sector presence in areas of renewable energy in most parts of Africa and would want more Spanish companies’ presence in Nigeria adding that the embassy would soon be organizing a programme through its Trade and Economy office in Nigeria for the Spanish companies to know more about Nigeria.

On the Distribution Companies (DISCOs), he said a Spanish company was already working with key DISCOs such as Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) and Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) in resolving challenges in areas of billings and revenue collection.

Adelabu expressed appreciation for the Spanish government’s ambitious agenda in Nigeria adding that his meeting with the  Ambassador was to also intimate him with the opportunities in the sector and the government’s commitment towards sectorial reforms,  targets and strategies put in place to achieve the targets.

“These targets are all geared towards enabling Nigerians to live good lives by giving them access to energy.  To have impactful and value-adding institutions in health, and education and ultimately to grow industries and attract investors.

He said the over-reliance on imports by Nigeria is impacting foreign exchange and the government is putting plans in place to change the situation.

“The pressure is high since we import virtually everything despite our natural endowment in terms of resources.

“The Federal government plans to promote the export of value-added products by developing the local manufacturing industries. This plan is also aimed at gaining international acceptance and creating employment for Nigerians”, the Minister said.

Adelabu said part of the power sector reform goal is the expansion of energy access, bringing in more participants into the energy net, grow industries and institutions through the power sector.

 “Our energy transition goal is also to collaborate with international collaborators in order to reduce carbon emissions in the environment.   We plan to achieve net zero emission by the year 2060 as our long-term target, the medium target is to achieve about 30,000mw of power out of which 30 percent would be renewable energy by the year 2030”, he said.

The Ambassador was accompanied by the Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of Spain, Maria Higon Velasco, and the Head of Cooperation, Santiago Ferrera.