*Wants REA to look its way in projects’ development
The government of Plateau, the twelfth largest state in Nigeria, located circa in the center of the country, has developed and signed off a new policy to advance the development and deployment of renewable sources of energy to its residents.
The three policies – State Policy and Strategy on Renewable Energy, Plateau State Rural Electrification Plan, and the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Guidelines for Solar Mini-Grids, was recently launched by the state at the third edition of the annual National Council on Power (NACOP) hosted in its capital, Jos, with the state asking the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) to now look its way for more projects.
Speaking at the event, the state governor, Mr. Simon Lalong, stated that it (Plateau) was well-matched for any form of renewable energy project including solar, biomass, wind and hydro, adding that it has all the resources needed for power projects in any of these.
“While we appeal to the REA to focus special attention on Plateau State, we have also completed and adopted our State Policy and Strategy on Renewable Energy, which was presented earlier by the State Commissioner for Water Resources and Energy along with two other supporting documents: the Plateau State Rural Electrification Plan and the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Guidelines for Solar Mini-Grids, with the main objective of accelerating the electrification of our rural clusters,” said Lalong.
He noted that the state had equally initiated efforts to scale up its adoption of renewable energy for power generation and usage in its public offices and buildings.
Lalong, explained that commitment was made by the state to the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), that it would fund an academic prize for the best renewable energy project in Nigerian university, as a way to encourage universities to embrace advancements in renewable energy technologies.
He said: “As a government, we have completed and commissioned a 5kW demonstration plant at the ministry of water resources and energy for powering offices using solar energy to mark the commencement of our ‘Green City Program’.
“With the adoption of our state’s renewable energy policy and strategy, we are poised for up-scaling these initiatives for the benefit of other communities, institutions, office complexes and commercial buildings.”
“At the last Engineering Assembly held by the COREN, we committed to sponsoring an academic prize for the best final year Nigerian university student project in renewable energy,” he added.
