Accelerating grid-based renewable electricity sector transition in Nigeria.

Adedokun, Racheal; Strachan, Peter; Singh, Anita

Abstract

This paper advances the academic and practice of building urban resilience and sustainable cities by investigating the planning process and governance to identify challenges of on-grid renewable energy deployment across the 36 states of Nigeria. Furthermore, a technology roadmap for building urban resilience of the Nigerian grid is presented. Eighty-five (85) million people have no access to electricity, with about 14% in the urban areas. This is the highest energy deficit in the world, and the country's population is projected to double by 2050. Moreover, those connected to the national grid experience incessant interruptions and blackouts. The lack of urban resilience of the grid has had substantial economic and social costs losing about $26.2 billion yearly. Renewable energy policies were formulated in 2015 to address these issues, but until now, no renewable energy technology (wind and solar) has been connected to the grid. This study investigates these issues through an in-depth interview with 31 policymakers, subject matter experts and practitioners, adopting the Transition Management and Multi-Level Perspective frameworks and incorporating accountability and transparency concepts. The study identified that several multifaceted challenges impact renewable energy development. These span infrastructural, policy and regulatory, socio-cultural, economic, political, market-related, institutional, financial, legal, administrative, and technological/technical barriers. Furthermore, the study argues that the planning process and governance structure must be reconfigured with accountability and transparency measures and an independent agency established to implement on-grid renewable energy. The findings will aid policymakers and planners in accelerating the transition in Nigeria.

Citation

ADEDOKUN, R., STRACHAN, P. and SINGH, A. 2023. Accelerating grid-based renewable electricity sector transition in Nigeria. In Montgomery, J. (ed.) Proceedings of the 2023 AMPS (Architecture, media, politics, society) New York - livable cities: a conference on issues affecting life in cities, 14-16 June 2023, New York, USA. AMPS proceedings series, 34.2. New York: AMPS [online], pages 257-268. Available from: https://amps-research.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Amps_Proceedings_Series_34.2.pdf

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (published)
• Conference Name: 2023 AMPS (Architecture, media, politics, society) New York - livable cities: a conference on issues affecting life in cities
• Start Date: Jun 14, 2023
• End Date: Jun 16, 2023
• Acceptance Date: Apr 25, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Mar 10, 2024
• Publication Date: Dec 31, 2023
• Deposit Date: Apr 2, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 28, 2024
• Publisher: Architecture Media Politics Society (AMPS)
• Pages: 257-268
• Series Title: AMPS proceedings series
• Series Number: 34.2
• Series ISSN: 2398-9467
• Chapter Number: Chapter 24
• Keywords: Fossil fuel-dependent systems; Renewable energy (RE); Nigeria; Sub-Saharan Africa; Energy poverty
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/2293634
• Publisher URL: https://amps-research.com/proceedings/