The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has stated that the Federal Government has identified around $23 billion in investment potential in Nigeria for projects that are directly tied to the country’s Energy Transition Plan. This information was released on Monday.
According to The Punch, Adelabu stated during his speech at the 2nd German-Nigerian Symposium on Green Hydrogen that the opportunities would not only result in large net job creation by 2030—up to 340,000 jobs, but would also supply electric power for economic development.
He added that petrol will play a crucial role as a transition fuel in Nigeria’s net-zero route, particularly in the power and cooking sectors. He predicted that the ETP would produce up to 840,000 employees by 2060, driven primarily by the power, cooking, and transportation sectors.
“The formation and growth of enterprises linked to solar energy, green hydrogen, and electric vehicles are among the noteworthy investment prospects that the ETP generates.
“Nigeria must reach Net Zero by 2060, requiring $1.9 trillion, including $410 billion above normal spending. This extra expense comes out to almost $10 billion a year.”
According to Adelabu, there is a $23 billion investment potential based on ongoing national initiatives and programs that are closely linked to the just energy transition.
Speaking on the importance of petrol as Nigeria’s transition fuel, the Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, Ogbonnaya Orji, added that blue hydrogen, while not as pure as green hydrogen, could be produced from petrol and would be helpful as Nigeria moves towards cleaner energy sources.
“And sadly, Nigeria is still struggling to adopt and implement effective policies for the commercialization and use of gas. For example, the most recent report from NEITI revealed that over $8.2 billion in revenue was unremitted. These profits came from the obligations of oil and gas firms and government organizations.
“According to a breakdown of the unremitted payments in our research, there was $559.8 million in outstanding gas royalties and $828.8 million in unpaid gas flare penalties. This suggests that more gas was flared during the period than was used, which poses a severe threat to the global zero emissions objective.
“NEITI is collaborating closely with the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission to ensure the transparent and efficient implementation of its gas commercialization policy, with the goal of reversing the gas flare trend,” Orji said.
Germany and Nigeria, according to German Ambassador to Nigeria Annett Günther, are dedicated to advancing hydrogen production and utilization.
She also brought up the recent visit to Nigeria by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who emphasized that hydrogen—the gas of the future, was just as important to the two countries’ energy alliance as conventional fossil fuels.
The Country Director of GIZ Nigeria and ECOWAS, Markus Wagner, stated as follows: “It is critical to acknowledge that green hydrogen has the potential to completely transform our energy system. It provides a way to lower carbon emissions, increase economic growth, and diversify energy sources.”
He claimed that the energy sector has long been a productive area of cooperation between Germany and Nigeria, and GIZ has been an active participant in this journey, collaborating with Nigerian institutions and partners to promote positive change.”
