{"id":358,"date":"2021-04-08T08:09:30","date_gmt":"2021-04-08T08:09:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pscsolaruk.com\/blog\/?p=358"},"modified":"2021-04-08T08:09:30","modified_gmt":"2021-04-08T08:09:30","slug":"nigeria-bets-on-solar-to-power-its-covid-recovery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pscsolaruk.com\/blog\/nigeria-bets-on-solar-to-power-its-covid-recovery\/","title":{"rendered":"Nigeria Bets on Solar to Power Its Covid Recovery"},"content":{"rendered":"

Suleiman Babamanu\u2019s path to the heart of Nigeria\u2019s biggest solar power program started in disappointment.<\/p>

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\u00a9 Photographer: KC Nwakalor\/Bloomberg<\/span>\u00a0next_solarbabamanu04_01.jpg<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

After university, he worked as a trainee geoscientist for a unit of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. A job in the industry\u2014Nigeria is Africa\u2019s biggest oil producer\u2014would have been a traditional route, and a lucrative one. But he couldn\u2019t find employment.<\/p>

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This was about 2010 when the growth of clean energy around the world made it start to seem like a potential career path. The industry hadn\u2019t gained much traction in Nigeria, and he set aside the idea until a conversation with a relative persuaded him to reconsider.<\/p>\n

\u201cA cousin told me not to go where the money is but where the money is going,\u201d he says. \u201cI immediately changed my mind and applied for a master\u2019s degree in renewable energy, and I got a scholarship.\u201d That sent him to Newcastle University in the U.K. and then on to a range of public and private jobs in his home country\u2019s renewables industry, including projects that had received World Bank funding.<\/p>

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Now he\u2019s implementing Nigeria\u2019s largest investment in solar power, part of the country\u2019s Covid economic recovery plan. The project, Solar Power Naija, is also a step toward solving one of Nigeria\u2019s biggest problems: a lack of reliable electricity.<\/p>\n

Under the Paris Climate Agreement, Nigeria has pledged to cut carbon emissions by 20% by 2030. To get there, it aims to generate 30% of its energy from renewables. To make progress, 10% of the government\u2019s 2.3 trillion naira ($5.6 billion) of spending to spur recovery from the pandemic will be used to install 5 million solar-home systems. The aim is to provide electricity to 25 million people in rural communities that now have no access to the grid.<\/p>

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