Renewable Energy as Alternative Source of Power and Funding of Renewable Energy in Nigeria

Nigeria has been mainly dependent on the conventional electrical energy for a long time, with little effort being done to develop alternative renewable sources of energy. The electrical energy is insufficient to fulfill the energy needs in Nigeria, with statistics pointing out that 80% of the country’s population thrives on combustible biomass from the forest woods. USAID has estimated the current generation of electrical energy to be 12, 522MW with a peak generation that was recorded in 2017 being 5,222MW. The estimated energy gap in Nigeria is 170,008 MW, that could be catered for through renewable sources such as the solar energy, wind energy, Biomass energy, and Hydro power. Various financing models including Grants and Long-term Equity, Debt Financing, Results-Based Financing, NGO financing among others, can be instrumental in giving the financial resources that will help in advancing the renewable energy projects in Nigeria. EIA laws and the Land Use Cap 202 are some of the regulatory framework through which the renewable energy projects in Nigeria can be actualized