Ensuring right policies in place

Rural Electrification Policy- Ensuring right policies in place

  • Achieve 60% rural electrification by 2020
  • Connect 1.1 million rural households yearly from 2015 through to 2020

Tariff policy

  • Tariffs for rural electricity service will be cost reflective
  • Establish rural tariff model that allows for higher margins than urban tariffs thus making RE projects attractive
  • NERC will allow RE tariffs outside of its approved rural tariff model as long as 60% of customers agree to the tariff

Rural electrification policy

  • NERC has overall regulatory powers over rural electrification in Nigeria
  • RE schemes with generating capacity at a single site of 1MW or less, or distribution capacity of 100kW or less are exempt from license

Making technology affordable

REA policy objectives – Making technology affordable
Promotion of low-cost operators

  • Demand the use of low-cost and high quality options in RE projects that apply for grants
  • Low-cost technology include implementing renewable technologies, shielded wire technologies and the use of single phase lines

Promoting efforts to reduce equipment costs

  • Reduce cost by stimulating demand of equipment through raising awareness of their benefits and availability
  • Reduce cost by increasing supply through supporting new entrants and continued support of local production of required equipment

Capital subsidies

  • Provide grants towards the initial start-up costs of qualified RE projects

Energy efficiency in RE

  • Promote the use of energy efficient appliances and devices in RE

Building capacity for Nigerian execution

REA policy objectives – Building capacity for Nigerian execution

Participation of non-traditional operators

Modify power market rules to permit a range of industry and ownership structures to accommodate public, private and co-operative entities with the RE space

 

Capacity and awareness building

  • Raise awareness of opportunities in RE
  • Offer capacity building  for potential RE partners e.g., private sector to improve their understanding of and qualification for developing and running RE projects
  • Educating end users on energy efficiency and solar power

Driving economic development

REA policy objectives – Driving economic development

Promoting RE as a catalyst for rural development

Use RE projects to boost economic development by allowing host communities to utilize time and effort spent on generating alternative energy on more beneficial economic activities

 

Regional equity

  • Promote equity in ensuring RE efforts are evenly distributed across Nigeria’s regions and population groups
  • RE projects that will serve populations within most infrastructure-poor areas are prioritized to achieve scale and equitable access to service delivery

Local content and participation in RE

  • Encourage the use of local content and local participation in RE projects (including community ownership of stocks)
  • Empower local industries to play larger role in the supply chain from materials, manufacture, construction and operation of the assets

Managing challenges that arise

REA policy objectives – Managing challenges that arise

Dealing with legacy rural electrification projects

Engage relevant stakeholders e.g., FGN MDAs and local governments through workshops and consultations to renew interests in legacy viable projects and provide funding through grants


Constituency projects

Partner with National Assembly in identifying viable RE projects that could be implemented as constituency projects with funds provided through  special budgetary allocations

 

Dealing with network expansion and ownership

  • Protect sponsors of RE projects from unfair acquisition of assets by DisCos in the event that rural electrification frontier meets advancing urban electrification frontiers
  • Working with the communities to avoid vandalism of assets