Nigeria launches $500 million renewable energy project

Nigeria's sovereign wealth fund has launched a $500 million renewable investment venture aimed at accelerating the country's energy transition.

The Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) said the venture will focus on developing, investing in, and operating renewable energy programmes.

A pilot for the Renewables Investment Platform for Limitless Energy (RIPLE) project will be located within the Tokarawa industrial hub in the northern Kano state, it said on Monday.

Nigeria with a population of more than 200 million produces just about 4,000 megawatts of electricity a day, much lower than local demand. This results in frequent blackouts across the country.

Carbon avoidance

The plan is to establish a generation and distribution system to supply 70 megawatts of electricity to industrial, commercial, and residential customers in an area covering about 9,000 connections, the NSIA said.

Nigeria predominantly burns gas to produce electricity. It is seeking to increase the supply of renewable electricity from 13% of total generation in 2015 to 23% in 2025 and 36% by 2030, Reuters news agency reports.

The Nigerian authorities said that the launch of project would be followed by a partnership agreement with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank Group to "further redefine Nigeria's energy landscape." They did not give further details.

The NSIA and Vitol launched a similar venture in April to invest in a range of carbon avoidance and removal projects in Africa's most populous nation.