Wind, biogas and small hydro in Nigeria: The legal framework, pathway to deployment and lessons from Germany

Detailed summary

More than 85 million Nigerians lack access to electricity, the largest unelectrified population in the world. What Nigeria lacks is ...

More than 85 million Nigerians lack access to electricity, the largest unelectrified population in the world. What Nigeria lacks is not energy, but infrastructure. The wind speeds in the northern savannah are sufficient for utility-scale generation; various abattoirs, breweries, and municipal waste systems throughout the country generate sufficient organic feedstock to power biogas plants; and hundreds of river locations with small-hydro potential remain surveyed but yet to be harnessed.

The legal framework for the harnessing of these resources is present. Prior to the Electricity Act 2023 (“EA”), there were various legal instruments, including the Electric Power Sector Reform Act 2005 (“EPSR Act”), the National Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Policy 2015 (“NREEEP”), and the SE4ALL Nigeria Action Agenda, all of which laid groundwork for the deployment of renewable energy in the Country. The EA, building on that groundwork, creates a technology-neutral licensing regime, recognising, alongside solar, wind, biogas, and small hydro. Recognition alone does not build power plants.

This article asks and answers three pivotal questions: what does the law provide, what must actually be done to venture into the market, and what financial incentives are available to support such a venture? The article closes with a brief look into Germany’s Renewable Energy Sources Act, whose two decades of experience converting statutory ambition into deployed capacity offer lessons Nigeria may find instructive.

The legal framework for renewable energy generation in Nigeria can be traced back to the EPSR Act 2005, which opened up the power sector to private participants. In 2015, the NREEEP went further by setting indicative targets for expanding clean energy access, diversifying the national energy mix, and optimising power consumption.

Cognisance must also be taken of the Fifth Alteration Act No. 33 to the 1999 Constitution, assented to in March 2023, which enabled states to now…

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