Coming to terms with renewable energy in Nigeria

Let me start with my own story of a piece of equipment that almost anyone who has the money to invest in a generator and its maintenance costs could invest in. After spending nearly two and a half years suffering the vagaries of NEPA and refusing, out of principle and (I admit) a phobia of […]

Let me start with my own story of a piece of equipment that almost anyone who has the money to invest in a generator and its maintenance costs could invest in. After spending nearly two and a half years suffering the vagaries of NEPA and refusing, out of principle and (I admit) a phobia of handling petrol, to get a generator, I finally invested in an inverter and deep-cycle battery system. While writing this article, I have been entirely dependent on power supply from this system. The battery charges when I have electricity and supplies me with power to run my laptop, inkjet printer, TV, DVD player, and satellite television decoder. It also recharges my phones, a battery lamp, and a battery fan. (A much larger multiple-battery and inverter system would be needed to run a refrigerator, heating element, or any other large appliance that uses a lot of electricity). My battery needs about three hours of electricity to recharge, and when fully charged, according to the literature, can provide up to ten hours of electricity. Since I use mine very lightly, unplugging printer and TV when not in use, and turning off the inverter when I sleep or leave my house, I think mine has provided even more than that. Since I purchased it in February 2011, I have not had my battery run out of charge even once. Even during a couple of periods when the electricity was off for over thirty hours, my battery would still work whenever I turned it on. Although the initial investment is more expensive than a generator, it has been completely worth it to me. There is very little noise (just a light hum), no unpleasant fumes, and no handling of petrol or having to waste time and money in queues for petrol.

 

The inverter and battery system is “renewable energy for beginners.” Although the same battery technology can be powered by renewable energy sources like solar, using the “NEPA-recharge” system ultimately still leaves me dependent on ‘the grid’ for power. If I were without electricity for a week, the battery would do me no good. If I had a generator, however, I could use a “hybrid” form of energy as my parents do. They use the generator to recharge their battery and leave it on long enough to keep food in their refrigerator from spoiling. The rest of the time they rely on the battery.

According to Professor Wolfgang Palz, the use of photovoltaic (PV) panels (of the sort installed at the Goethe Institute) to convert sunlight into electricity is the most promising investment for northern Nigeria with its steady sunlight. He expressed his delight at how well the solar energy complemented the ‘vernacular’ architecture of the 16th century Gidan bi Minista where the Goethe Institut is hosted, complimenting the people of Kano on the preservation of the building, and saying he hadn’t seen anything else like it in Africa. Professor Palz spent most of his lecture on the “Photovoltaic Revolution,” noting that of all renewable energy options, PV technology is the one currently receiving the most technical development globally, which means that the cost of is rapidly dropping. Indeed, Baba Dahiru, a renewable energy entrepreneur in Kano, interjected that the price of PV has come down by almost half since August 2010, when PV panels were installed at the Goethe Institut. Palz noted that despite Germany having far less access to direct sunlight than Nigeria does, one million German houses are equipped with PV panels. “European countries are benefitting from the environmental revolution and Africa is being left out,” Palz said, “This is a scandal. Here you have sun almost all the time, with little seasonal variation. Why are you not using it?

Although majoring on PV technology, the professor briefly discussed other forms of renewable energy that were featured in the exhibition: Solar thermal is a non-PV solar technology, which generates solar energy into heat and is an obvious solution for water heating. Wind power generates electricity through capturing the kinetic energy of the wind, one of the best sources of which is “off shore,” over the ocean. Bio-energy is a wide and diverse field, which includes the gasification of solid ‘biomass’ like wood chips, straw, and husks; the creation of electricity from biogas from sewage plants and agricultural waste; and biofuels, such as fuel made from sugar cane which can be used instead of fossil fuels to run vehicles. Hydropower uses the movement of water to create electricity and is already being used as a major source of electricity in Nigeria. Small Hydropower plants which use only small or no reservoir are less likely to displace communities and Palz mentioned it as a good option for southern Nigeria. Finally, Geothermal energy is captured from the heat of the earth and can be used to create electricity or for heating in cold climates.

The discussion after the lecture revealed why renewable energy sources are so important for Nigeria. One man remarked that he  recently realized that he was spending a minimum of five thousand naira a week on petrol to run his generator from 7pm to midnight every night. Thus he was spending, 260,000 naira a year for only five hours of electricity a day, and this did not include the cost of generator repairs. The amount he spent on petrol would pay several times over for the small battery and invertor system I use and would go a great way towards investing in photovoltaic panels, which are a one time expense with little maintenance afterwards. As Frank Roger and Baba Dahiru pointed out, the large investment in the solar tracking system at the Goethe Institut should pay for itself in three years.

I am personally convinced that many, if not most, of the economic problems in Nigeria stem from not having a steady electricity supply for both large industries and small businesses to rely on, not to mention the personal expenses ordinary citizens pay to run generators at home.  It is scandalous that a country with some of the best sun in the world is the number one consumer of generators in the world. Of course, beyond the economic and environmental costs, small scale production of electricity with generators is dangerous, as was pitifully illustrated to me last week at my church when a little girl of three or four was brought to the front of the congregation for special prayer. Her face and arms were covered with burns from a generator explosion.

Fortunately, Nigeria does have its renewable energy pioneers who are committed to using the resources readily available to everyone to create electricity. At least two faculty from Bayero University from Geography and Mechanical Engineering spoke on the projects they are doing to develop and establish renewable energy resource in Kano. And in my opinion, Baba Dahiru, the renewable energy entrepreneur who spoke several times over the course of the afternoon, should be recognized as one of Kano’s heroes. He spoke of his passion for renewable energy, how his own home was off-grid, how solar water heating systems he installed ten years ago are still in great condition, and how when he couldn’t find other young people willing to work and stay with him, he recruited his own children. Muntaka Mohammad, who described himself as one of Baba Dahiru’s greatest fans, had become as passionate as his mentor about the topic, testifying to the liberating experience of having been off-grid for over three years now.

I hope that such passion spreads, not only for individual convenience, but as a social and political cause. While being off-grid is a good solution for individuals who can afford it, it is only when there is the political will to invest, as Germany has, in a grid which derives its energy from the gifts of nature, that all the people of Nigeria will experience the “renewable revolution.”