Management
Doctor of Philosophy [PhD]
| Level | Doctor of Philosophy [PhD] |
|---|---|
| Student | Dr Racheal Adedokun |
| Status | Complete |
| Part Time | No |
| Years | 2020 - 2024 |
| Project Title | A Roadmap for Energy Transition Strategic Planning and Governance : A Case Study of Nigeria's Grid-Based Renewable Electricity Sector |
| Project Description | Abstract The global drive for energy transition has resulted in Nigeria formulating energy policies to incorporate about 30% of new renewable energy sources to the planned 30GW of electricity generation by 2030. This is principally because renewable energy development, especially on the national grid, has been identified as a possible solution to resolve the complex challenges of energy insecurity (access and poverty), which has plagued Nigeria and to promote the reduction of green-house gas emissions to attain Nigeria’s Paris Agreement's obligations. Before now, the country has created various strategies, policies, programmes and regulations to encourage and facilitate the transition of grid-based renewable energy in the electricity sector, but up until now, there has been no new renewable energy technologies (solar or wind) installation. Also, the governance structure and the decision-making process has proven, so far, to be ineffective at coordinating the complex nature of the electricity sector and the activities of all stakeholders. Hence, this research aims to assess the renewable energy planning process and governance for sustainable development and propose a roadmap model for the implementation of strategies for grid-based renewable energy electricity generation in Nigeria. This study was conducted from a socio-technical transition perspective through the application of the Multi-Level Perspective and the Transition Management Framework by incorporating the accountability and transparency concepts to address these challenges. Primary and secondary research were utilised, and the interpretivist philosophical viewpoint structured the research through a qualitative method by adopting an inductive approach for data collection. Thirty-one (31) semi-structured interviews of energy and non-energy actors and experts and a review of the extant academic literature from the energy industry and other sources of information were carried out. Additionally, thematic analysis through NVivo Software was used for data analysis. The findings from the study have implications for policymakers and planners in developing a governance framework to accelerate the transition to renewable energy in developing nations. This study argues that there is a need to protect renewable energy niche innovation by providing an enabling environment for the growth and maturity of the technology. Also, the findings show that socio-technical landscape pressures from electricity demand on the existing regime and the multifaceted challenges of the grid system have created opportunities for niche development. However, the strong incumbent socio-technical regime, the system's inefficiency, conflicting multiple actors' interests and the government's petroleum subsidies and policies reinforce the incumbent regime (technology lock-in). Furthermore, the transition needs to be properly managed by a designated agency to foster transition, transparency and accountability, which was found to be sub-optimal in the study as there is no dedicated agency handling grid-based renewable energy implementation. This study also provides a good basis for other countries with similar techno-economic, socio-technical and political considerations to Nigeria. |
| Awarding Institution | Robert Gordon University |
| Director of Studies | Peter Strachan |
| Second Supervisor | Anita Singh |