A solar technology expert, Mr Jude Abalaka says government should create the enabling environment for investments in solar energy to tackle the nation’s power deficit.
Abalaka told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Lagos that solar could work hand in hand with fossil fuels and other forms of power generation.
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“We have a power challenge because in a population of about 180 million we are just generating about four gigawatts of power, which is not sufficient.
“Countries that have actually solved their power problem, they have enough power, but they are still investing so much in renewable energy.
“But for Nigeria, that does not even have enough, why don’t we look for ways of using mainly solar because we have sunlight a lot in Nigeria.
“We are around the equator and that is where the sun shines the most. That means that we have better to gain from solar energy.
“We should be the ones doing more. However, we have countries that don’t even have as much sunlight doing much more.
“For many countries the first thing that encouraged that was Government concessions.
“I know that in Nigeria there is supposedly zero duty on solar panels.
‘’In our experience we still have issues with (Nigeria Customs Service) because they come up with technicalities and still want you to pay duties on solar panels.
“So that does not really encourage it because the idea behind getting concession from government is that you make it cheap enough for people to acquire.
“Government incentives would really help a lot.’’
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Abalaka, who is the Managing Director of Tranos Ltd, said that solar energy was in the end a cheaper option for Nigerians considering the cost of fossil fuels. (NAN)
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