Sustainable Electricity Investment in Nigeria
My intent is for you to consider the thoughts outlined in the proposal below as a manifesto for a sustainable and attainable energy future for Nigeria.
I must declare some of my assumptions and underlining reasonings before I commence. My first assumption is that a 1st world, constant energy Nation like in the case of the United States is unattainable in the short term. This is simply because of the vast amount of infrastructure development that would be needed to achieve in combination with the fairly dismal project execution record that the Nigerian Government has had.
The second assumption I must declare is that the current systems of energy production, usage and development used in many of the First world nations we hope to emulate is a far cry from ideal sustainable methods. This is evidenced by the current global climate crisis to which these nations are most culpable.
My argument is predicated on the belief that as a result of the aforementioned assumptions, we have the unique opportunity to create a more attainable, sustainable and culturally appropriate energy solution for our nation. I argue that we should decentralize energy production, invest heavily in renewable energy research, devices and infrastructure and develop mobile need based energy products.
A description of this possible future might help further clarify this plan. I envision a Nigeria where we entirely depend on solar and wind energy production broken down into significantly decentralized zones that power basic function points of the society like public transport, hospitals, street lights, emergency response systems and other similar societal necessities. This energy is supplemented by more sustainable energy production that powers core functions of our homes like lighting, security systems, ventilation systems and outlet amounts up to certain caps. In doing so we create a more sustainable future and leapfrog many of the concerns the countries we hope to emulate have. For example, we avoid heavy pollution from oil spillage and production that currently is destroying ecosystems in the oil producing southern tip of our Nation. In the bigger scheme we would begin along the path to a better and more ethical future for future generations as a premier green state.
At this point we pivot to mobile solutions that supply other needs. These solutions would include secure community refrigeration facilities, local charging points, 24/7 powered wifi station points and programmable water heating banks that direct set amounts of heated water to homes. This might sound fairly far fetched but I argue that it is more similar to the current situation than it seems. For many Nigerians, charging phones at friends places, using electricity at certain periods with our mobile generators and prioritizing items that need refrigeration in our rank of things that need electricity is a part of the daily reality. This clarifies my idea that this is more in alignment with our current culture than we might imagine.
Development of decentralized infrastructure systems offers the benefit that comes with breaking up a major task into smaller parts. Each piece of the larger challenge can then be tackled with much less difficulty. This applies to the electric infrastructure and thus opens the possibility for private entities and smaller public institutions can undertake the development of energy infrastructure. I must admit that there are potential drawbacks to this including the concentration of energy development in places with wealthier individuals which may be mitigated by a government mandated schedule. Another potential drawback might be liability for long term maintenance and updating of these systems, this can also be handled with government support.
This is just a proposal based on my educational and professional background as an architect and construction project manager. I would love to hear your thoughts or questions about what such a future might look like. Finally, I look forward to working with fellow like minded Nigerians on creating and executing ideas for a better Nigeria.