Shell: Nigeria requires $200b to bridge energy gap

Shell Nigeria Exploration & Production Co (SNEPCo) Managing Director (MD) Bayo Ojulari has said between $40 billion and $200 billion Nigeria needs to bridge its energy gap.

He said a nation without a secured energy system could not claim to have power.

In his presentation titled: “Nigeria’s energy security and sustainable development in Nigeria: The way forward”, at the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Oloibiri Lecture Series and Energy Forum 2019 in Abuja, Ojulari  lamented that 70 per cent of the country’s installed electricity capacity is lost without reaching consumers.

According to him, because of aging equipment and vandalism, 70 per cent of the populace has less than four hours electricity daily.

He said: “Energy is not standing alone, it is about its impact on the society.”

Ojulari said in the next 10 years,  energy demand is expected to double, adding that by 2050, solar could emerge as the dominant power energy source. But oil and gas need would continue.”

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Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Group managing Director Dr Maikanti Baru said despite abundant oil and gas reserves, the country still experiences shortages in electric power.

According to him, based on Nigeria’s Energy consumption current forecast, statistics showed an increase from 6GW in 2015 to 30GW by 2025. The primary source of the current power supply, he added, is hydro and gas.

Baru insisted that the future consumption, which is expected to drive growth by 2025, would need aggressive development of gas and renewable projects to meet the exponential demand.