HARNESSING RENEWABLE ENERGY IN NIGERIA

INTRODUCTION
Energy is fundamental to human activities. All human activities depend on one form of energy or another. Energy is the ability to do work. Ibidapo-Obe and Ajibola (2011) identify Some important forms and sources of energy include: the solar energy, derived from the sun; chemical energy; electrical energy mechanical energy which basically manifest as kinetic energy (i.e. energy due to motion) and potential energy (i.e. stored energy) to mention but a few. Electrical energy as one important source of energy due to its higher transmissible power, its ability to readily transform to other forms of energy and the human capability to facilitate its storage.
Electricity plays vital roles in our daily lives such as in cooking our food, hitting our water, powering our personal computer and many more. Energy is a very important catalyst for economic development of any country. Despite the importance of energy to socio-economic development, Nigeria has not being able to generate the maximum required amount of energy it needs for her population.
OBJECTIVE OF STUDY
• This paper looks at the prospects of harnessing renewable energy in Nigeria and its challenges.
• It identifies the renewable resources available and their application in Nigeria.
O. Ibidapo-Obe and O.O.E. Ajibola (2011) identify that the word renewable emanated from renew which implies “to give new strength to something”. Renewable Energy thus mean: Energy that can be given new strength to.
Renewable Energies derivable from the natural movements and environment such as: sunshine, wind, the heat of the earth, the movement of seas and rivers and the growth/movement of plants and animals. Renewable energy is important because of the benefits it provides. The key benefits which are that renewable energy technologies are clean sources of energy that have a much lower environmental impact than conventional energy technologies. For example, A renewable energy system transforms incoming solar energy and its primary alternate forms (wind and river flow), usually without pollution-causing combustion into readily usable form of energy such as electricity. Renewable energy does not run out, ever. Other sources of energy are finite and will someday be depleted.
Some renewable energy forms are: Solar, Wind, Micro-Hydro, Fuel Cells, Biomass and Geothermal Energy. However, some energy forms are non-renewable. Major nonrenewable energy forms are the Fossil Fuels. These are the traditional sources of energy such as coal, oil and natural gas. Fossil Fuels are nonrenewable since they cannot be recycled. Once they are spent they cannot be recovered again. Renewable energy is sustainable indefinitely, unlike long-stored energy from fossil fuels. Sources of renewable energy include the following:
Wave
Waves are created by the wind blowing across the sea and by the gravitational force of the moon. Wave power uses the energy of the waves to turn turbines that make electricity.
Geothermal
Geothermal power uses the heat that comes from deep rocks under the surface of the Earth. The temperature of the Earth increases towards its centre. The hot water or steam that comes from deep within our planet can be used to make electricity.
Hydro-electric
Hydro-electricity is generated from running water. Dams are built across a lake or river in a valley to trap water. The water flows through tunnels and turns the turbines which make electricity.
Solar
The Sun releases an amazing amount of energy due to the nuclear fusion of hydrogen taking place within its core. Solar panels, called photovoltaic cells are used to convert the Sun‛s energy into electricity. The Sun can also be used to heat water passing through special solar collectors.
Wind
Wind is made when the Sun heats the Earth and the area above land gets hotter than the area above water. The hot air above land rises upwards leaving an area of low pressure. Cooler air moves into this area of low pressure making wind which we use to turn wind turbines and make electricity. Wind used to be used to turn windmills to grind wheat into flour.
Biomass
Biomass uses the energy from plants and waste materials to make electricity. For example, wood or animal droppings can be burnt to make steam that turns turbines to make electricity. Even though Biomass is form of renewable energy, Biomass combustion emits CO2 and other pollutants
Tidal
Tidal energy comes from the movement of water in the sea by the tides. These tides happen twice a day. The flow of water that is created by the tides is used to turn generators that make electricity.
ENERGY SITUATION IN NIGERIA
.Despite the abundance of energy resources in Nigeria, the country is in short supply of electrical power. Only about 40% only of the nation’s over 130 million has access to grid electricity and at the rural level, where about 70% of the population live, the availability of electricity drops to 15%. Nigeria requires per capital power capacity of 1000 Watts per person or power generating/handling capacity of 140,000 MW as against the current capacity of 3,920 MW. This will put Nigeria slightly below South Africa with per capita power capacity of 1047 Watts, UK with per capita power capacity of 1266 Watts and above Brazil with per capita power capacity of 480 Watts, China with per capita power capacity of 260 Watts.
Currently Nigeria has per capita power capacity of 28.57 Watts and this is grossly inadequate even for domestic consumption. To achieve the goals of development, a strong energy sector is essential. Many countries, especially in developing countries are faced with serious energy crises. They have been unable to meet the energy needs of their countries. In a quest to realize this, many have turn to different sources of energy which among them are renewable energy sources. Currently a high proportion of the world’s total energy output is generated from fossil fuels such as oil and coal.

THE POLICY FRAMEWORK ON RENEWABLE ENERGY IN NIGERIA
The Federal Government approved the National Energy Policy (NEP) in 2003 to articulate the sustainable exploitation and utilization of all viable energy resources. The policy is hinged on private sector development of the energy sector. The key elements in the national policy position on the development and application of renewable energy and its technologies are as follows:
• To develop, promote and hardness the Renewable Energy (RE) resources of the country and incorporate all viable ones into the national energy mix
• To promote decentralized energy supply, especially in rural areas, based on RE resources
• To de-emphasize and discourage the use of wood as fuel
• To promote efficient methods in the use biomass energy resources
• To keep abreast of international developments in RE technologies and applications
Renewable Energy Resource in Nigeria
Nigeria has high potential to harness energy from renewable sources. They include:
Hydro
Sambo(2005) identify that essentially, hydropower systems rely on the potential energy difference between the levels of water in reservoirs,Solar energy technologies are divided into two broad groups namely solar-thermal and solar photovoltaics. In solar thermal applications, solar energy, as electromagnetic waves, is first converted into heat energy. The heat energy may then be used either directly as heat, or converted into ‘cold’, or even into electrical or mechanical energy forms.
Typical such applications are in drying, cooking, heating, distillation, cooling and refrigeration as well as electricity generation in thermal power plants. In solar photovoltaic applications, the solar radiation is converted directly into electricity. The most common method of doing this is through the use of silicon solar cells. Nigeria has a capacity of 11,500 MW for large hydropower and only 1972 MW has being exploited while for small hydro power, the country has about 3,500 MW and only about 64.2 MW has being exploited.

Biomass
Okafor andUzuegbu (2010) identify that the biomass resources of Nigeria can be identified as wood, forage grasses and shrubs, animal as waste arising from forestry, agricultural, municipal and industrial activities, as well as, Aquatic biomass. Garba and Bashir (2002) indicates that the biomass resources of the nation have been estimated to be about 8 x 102 M.J. Plant biomass can be utilized as fuel for small-scale industries. It could also be fermented by anaerobic bacteria to produce a very versatile and cheap Fuel Gas i.e. biogas
Wind Energy Wind is a natural phenomenon related to the movement of air masses caused primarily by the differential solar heating of the earth’s surface. Sambo (2005) State that seasonal variations in the energy received from the sun affects the strength and direction of the wind. The ease with which aero turbines transform energy in moving air to rotary mechanical energy suggests the use of electrical devices to convert wind energy to electricity. Wind energy has also been utilized, for decades, for water pumping as well as for the milling of grains.
A study on the wind energy potentials for a number of Nigerian cities shows that the annual wind speed ranges from 2.32 m/s for Port Harcourt to a figure of 3.89 m/s for Sokoto (Sambo, 1987). The maximum extractable power per unit area, for the same two sites was estimated at 4.51 and 21.97 watts per square metre of blade area, respectively. And when the duration of wind speeds greater than 3 m/s is considered than the energy per unit area works out as 168.63 and 1,556.35 kWh per square metre of blade area, again for PortHarcourt and Sokoto.
Although use of wind energy for water supply has been known and used for hundreds of years, in recent times efforts have been directed largely towards the use of wind power for the generation of electricity and in the past twenty years or so rapid changes in technology have occurred and major wind powered generating plants have been installed, especially in the rural areas of the developed countries.
Solar
Okafor andUzuegbu (2010) indicates that Nigeria is endowed with an annual Average daily sunshine of 6.25 hours, ranging between about 3.5 hours at the coastal areas and 9.0 hours at the far northern boundary. Similarly, it has an annual average daily solar radiation of about 5.25 KW/m2/day, varying between about 3.5 kWm2/day at the coastal Area and 7.0kW/m2/day at the northern boundary (8). Nigeria receives about 4.851x 1012 KWh of energy per day from the sun. This is equivalent to about 1.082 million tons of oil Equivalent (mtoe) per day, and is about 4 thousand times the current daily crude oil reduction, and about 13 thousand times that of natural gas daily production based on energy unit. This huge energy resource from the sun is available for about 26% only of the day.

Garba, and Bashir.(2002) The country is also experiences some cold and dusty atmosphere during the harmattan, in its northern part, for a period of about four months (November-February) annually (13). The dust has an attenuating effect on the solar radiation intensity. Based on the land area of 924 x 103 km2 for the country and an average of 5.535 kWh/m2/day, Nigeria has an average of 1.804 x 1015 kWh of incident solar energy annually. This annual solar energy insolation value is about 27 times the nation total conventional energy resources in energy units and is over 117,000 times the amount of electric power generated in the country In other words, about 3.7% only of the national land area is needed to be utilized in order to annual collect from the sun an amount of energy equal to the nation’s conventional energy reserve

APPLICATIONS OF RENEWABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES IN NIGERIA
Solar Energy
Sambo (2005) states that there are many solar thermal systems especially solar water heaters and solar dryers in use in many parts of the country. Solar cookers, solar stills, solar chicken brooders and solar thermal refrigerators developed by research centres and confirmed to be of practical applications. However solar photovoltaic applications have wider current installation in the country and these include solar photovoltaic water pumping systems, solar powered vaccine refrigerators as well as telecommunication repeater stations that are powered by solar photovoltaics. There are also solar photovoltaic power plants that are providing electricity to entire villages and also others that are powering on stand-alone basis, some specific projects such as rural health centres television viewing centres.

Biomass
Many versions of efficient wood-burning and charcoal stoves have been developed and are being used in many parts of country with the overall objective of curtailing the amount trees that are perennially cut to provide fuel wood and charcoal. Biogas digesters, which are capable of producing biogas that could be used for domestic and industrial uses, have been developed in many parts of the country
Wind Energy
Wind energy used to be relied upon in the 1950s and 1960s for provision of water in many locations of the northern part of the country. However this was largely abandoned when the development of petroleum products reached advanced stages. The development of the Poldow wind pump in Bauchi using locally available materials is surely a move in the right direction. Of course it should be mentioned that there a few modern wind water pumps in some parts of the country. There is also one wind electricity generator currently supplying electricity from wind energy at Sayya Gidan Gada in Sokoto State.
RENEWABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES READY FOR LOCAL ADOPTION
Sambo (2005) identify that a large number of renewable energy devices have been developed by Nigerian researchers in various parts of the country. The devices which are ready for incorporation into the economy especially for rural areas as follows:
Solar Cookers: These are box-type arrangements where most local dishes can be cooked within one hour under average sunshine conditions.
Solar Water Heaters
The heaters which are based on flat-plate collectors with appropriate storage units can produce water at temperature of up to 80oC will find applications in hospitals, hotels, industry and private residences and are capable of significant reduction of electricity bills.

Solar Dryers
Both portable cabinet dryers, for individual private use, as well as large-scale units, for community utilisation, have been developed. The dryers which typically attain temperatures of up to 60-70°C are suitable for drying a variety of agricultural produce.
Solar Stills
Solar stills are designed to produce distilled water from brackish water and will be useful for hospitals, industry and laboratories. When sized appropriately they can provide for the needs of comprehensive health centres of semi-urban localities.
Water Pumping
Many workers have demonstrated the use of photovoltaic solar modules for pumping water from wells and boreholes especially in rural areas for providing the water requirements of entire communities. Photovoltaic powered pumps can also be employed for irrigation purposes.
Storage of Vaccines and Drugs
Photovoltaic power components have also been shown to adequately provide the electricity for refrigerators and deep freezers in which vaccines and drugs can be safely stored without losing their potencies.
Street Lights and Traffic Controllers
Photovoltaic modules have been used to provide uninterrupted electricity during the day and night for traffic controllers in city centres. With the use of storage batteries they have also been shown to power street lights continuously without the power outages commonly associated with the mains supply.

Improved Wood-Burning Stoves
Clay-based improved cook stoves, of various designed, have been developed and these conserve the amount of fuel wood consumed by up to 50%, lead to faster cooking and with the attachment of chimneys they allow for organised exit of smoke and consequently reduce smoke inhalation.
Production of Biogas
With biogas digesters, which are typically constructed from sheet metal or empty drums and fed with slurries of animal dung they can produce biogas and after 2-3 days. This gas which has a reasonable content of methane is combustible and can be relied upon for the production of gas for domestic cooking. It can also be used for powering internal combustion engines for electricity generation in rural areas.
Wind for Electricity Generation
In Nigeria, for quite some time, only laboratory trials have been made in the area of using wind for electricity generation. Such trails have been made with models of three-bladed aeroturbines and the results obtained indicate the potential for stand-alone utilisation especially in the Sahelian zone as well as the coastal areas of the country. Recently, however, an increasing number of wind water pumping sets and wind electricity conversion systems have been installed.
Electricity from Microhydro Systems
The generation of electricity from numerous waterfalls and rivers in the form of microhydro plants for integration into the national grid as well as for stand-alone utilisations, remote locations, is a system that has been shown to be viable.

PROBLEMS WITH IMPLEMENTING ALTERNATIVE ENERGY PROJECTS IN NIGERIA
Okafor andUzuegbu (2010) Identify the following as the challenges faced with implementing renewable energy projects in Nigeria.

Technical challenges:

Lack of technical competence remained and may continue to be a major challenge towards the development of renewable energy systems in Nigeria. The technical failures of RE systems can be traced to lack of understanding of local energy requirements; lack of research and development to adapt technologies to local government conditions, resources and requirements; lack of local skilled labor to install, operate and maintain the equipment properly; and lack of access to spare parts.
These are the basic technical reasons behind the failure of most pilot programmes on the development of RE systems in Nigeria.
It is on record that most of the pilot programmes are carried out in rural communities. These communities are quite remote that most initial installers will not be willing to get back there to render maintenance services. Even when they do, the professional charges are beyond the capabilities of the beneficiary rural dwellers.
The concept, design, application and use of most RE devices are conceived without any local input, and there is little or no effort to the systems to various usage requirements. The result is that anytime it becomes difficult to get assistance in terms of component or intellectual property, as may be required to maintain or update the energy systems, the energy systems will simply face redundancy and finally abandonment by the user.

Economic and Financial Challenges
Coupled with low income per capita stigma of most African countries, it is observed that economic and financial barriers might be another major issue to contend with the development of renewable energy systems in Nigeria. These challenges arise from lack of access to capital; lack of means of life support; lack of information by appropriate financial institutions; lack of investment; scale of energy systems; inappropriate subsidies by the government or other agencies; size of organizations.
Fear of the workability of new technologies as a result of lack of access to educational or information materials, many financial institutions are not normally willing to invest in the businesses relating to renewable energy. The result of this is that both the potential installer and the end user are starved of the funds for either initial procurement or upgrade of existing systems. The scales of the renewable energy systems are in most cases a barrier in themselves. The size in terms of the functions are appreciated in long term use, but the initial cost compared with the immediate derivable services are not in any way to be compared with the similar services from the equivalent equipment using fossil fuel. Conviction for most intending end users has therefore become an uphill task, thereby slowing down the rate of patronage.
Investments in new technologies are very expensive. The cost for renewable energy systems in Africa may continue to be high because of high financial input and low profit margin in the course of manufacturing the component parts caused by low patronage and high cost of research and development.

National Policies and Awareness Programme Challenges
Activities of the government are highly instrumental to the success or failure of any matters of national interest including the programmes that will tend to enhance the very life status by introduction of new ways of living. Introduction of renewable energy systems is in the deployment programme for most African countries.
The rate of growth of the programme can only increase or decrease within the context of the government interest. Till the end of year 2005, there was no known government policy on renewable energy in Nigeria. This made it almost impossible for proper co-ordination of renewable energy activities in Nigeria. The growth before 2005 was largely dependent on individuals, societies and few corporate interest and activities. Absence of functional government fiscal policies and integrated planning on renewable energy in Nigeria was traced to government instability and inconsistency in policy formulation, with personal interest at decision making level having priority over national goals. The resultant effects of all these are that the growth in the deployment of renewable energy in Nigeria may be slow with the system costs remaining comparatively high and a high percentage of Nigerians not being aware of the gains of the renewable energy systems.

Social, cultural and environment constraints
Social acceptance of the renewable energy technology is very important, as its absence can be a major challenge. If the local Community does not accept the technology; there will be no demand for its services. For example, it may not make much sense to install solar cookers in communities which forbid women to cook in the middle of the day. Most renewable energy installations failed because the beneficiaries are not carried along during the decision making to deploy the energy systems to them. Involving the end users may generate more interest as they tend to benefit more, having been given the chance to express their very need or convinced on what is being provided.

Political, institutional and legislative barriers
Massive deployment of renewable energy systems in Nigeria has great future if only the right political and legislative framework can be put in place. Since the technology is foreign, there is need to put proper legislation in place, to prevent turning the country into a dumping ground by the technologically advanced nations. Proper legislation may see Nigeria imposing zero taxes to renewable products, since with zero taxes and large subsidy, the poorest of the poor are the targets. Also the importation of sub-standard goods will be adversely reduced.
Challenges based on the security of the installation
Insecurity of installations is not only an African problem. Globally, the security of the installation is paramount in the decision as to how and where to install the systems. In most cases, the security provisions will simply make the cost grow unreasonably high. Most known major projects have suffered one level of vandalism or the other. Installed equipment in one site can be found in the market within 24 hours after its commissioning. This barrier cuts all nature o installations from personal solar home stations to community mini solar and solar street lights.

RECOMMENDATION
Okafor andUzuegbu (2010), including other experts in the field, offer the following as solutions to resolving the challenges facing successful renewable energy adoption in Nigeria.

Nigeria needs an energy policy which stresses the development of renewable energy resources and technology. The current energy policy in the country has not laid significant emphasis on renewable energy.
Since the lack of access to affordable, clean and convenient energy is inextricably linked to poverty, it is recommended that a resource survey and assessment be carried out to determine the total renewable energy potential in the country as well as identify local conditions and local priorities in various ecological zones.
The development of renewable energy services is linked to many other sectors such as agriculture, small scale industrial enterprises and poverty alleviation, thus it is recommended that, renewable energy related projects have a greater likelihood of success if implemented in tandem with activities in these sectors to ensure sufficient demand for the energy services providers.
Recognizing that current flow of information on renewable energy technologies is inadequate, it is recommended that demonstration projects on various energy forms be established widely so that the performance and efficiency with which services are delivered can be sensitized.
In order to ensure an orderly development of renewable energy technologies and to assure quality of products, it is also recommended that a testing and standards laboratory for renewable energy technologies (RETs) similar to the one in South Africa be established in Nigeria.
As renewable energy technologies are increasingly used to address energy shortages and to expand the range of
services in both rural and urban areas, it is recommended that Nigeria take advantage of global partnerships such as the REEEP initiative of UK, to help the country for creative integration of renewable energy systems.
In view of the vital importance of RETs to kick start rural industrialization and the need for harnessing and channeling multilateral and bilateral funds to that purpose, it is recommended that a renewable energy funding/financing agency like India’s IREDA (Indian Renewable Energy Agency) be established.
Activities such as entrepreneurship and managerial skills development training programmes and technical courses in RETs with a view of developing Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) providing services to rural areas need to be introduced.
Identifying definite need for capacity building both at institutional and personnel level for acquiring technical, organizational, and managerial skills required for increased development of renewable energy.
The existing Research and Development centers and technology development institutions should be adequately strengthened to support the shift towards increased renewable energy utilization. Human resource development, critical knowledge and know-how transfer should be in focus for projects development, project management, monitoring and evaluation. Preparation of standards and codes of practices, maintenance manuals, life cycle costing and cost- benefit analyses tools to be undertaken on urgent priority.

REFERENCES
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A.S Sambo(1987).Wind energy assisted solar electricity generating schemes For the rural areas of Nigeria’,Large Scale Systems in Developing Countries. (Ovuworie, G.C., Onibere, E.A. and Asalor, J.O. (Eds.)), Pp.45 – 160, Joja Educ. Research and Pub. Ltd.

E.N.C. Okafor and Joe-Uzuegbu(2010).challenges to development of renewable Energy for electric power sector in Nigeria. International Journal of Academic Research. Vol. 2. No. 2. March 2010.Retrieved on 4th February, 2010 from http://www.ijar.lit.az

Garba, B and Bashir, A. M.(2002). Managing Energy Resources in Nigeria: Studies on Energy Consumption Pattern in Selected Rural Areas in Sokoto State. Nigerian Journal of Renewable Energy, Vol. 10 Nos. 1&2, pp. 97-107

O. Ibidapo-Obe and O.O.E. Ajibola (2011). Towards a Renewable Energy Development for Rural Power Sufficiency. International Conference on Innovations in Engineering and Technology (IET 2011), August 8th – 10th, 2011.