President Muhammadu Buhari’s chief of staff, Professor Ibrahim Gambari has assured that the State House will lead the way in keying into the global shift towards renewable energy choices by government institutions in line with Nigeria’s Energy Transition Plan.
The Plan seeks to tackle the dual crises of energy poverty and climate change with renewable energy contributing at least 30% to the energy mix by the year 2030.
While receiving in audience a three-man team from EM-ONE Energy Solutions, who were reportedly on a follow up visit to him in the State House, Professor Gambari said, said Aso Rock as an entity is committed to addressing its energy challenges.
“The world is now focused on reducing the effect of climate change. What we are looking for is the energy solution that comes with environmental sustainability. For us in the State House, there is the need to live by example. Just like I was impressed by your first presentation, your growing capacity and technological innovation continued to enhance your ability to deliver on your projections.
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“I am happy to note that you could actually upscale the renewable energy solution with more space for the solar panels. I am also glad that you have come to update us as this will enhance our process of deciding which way to go. The State House cannot afford not to be at the forefront with the First Family here, and we cannot afford blackouts and need to reduce how much we spend on diesel and cut down on carbon footprint; so, this is the direction we want to go,” he stressed.
The Chief Executive Officer of EM-ONE, Mir Islam, thanked the Chief of Staff for the opportunity given to the team, noting that, having grown up in this country, “we don’t want Nigeria to be left behind in the global energy transition programme.”
“More than 50 percent of the energy needs of the State House can be provided in the Phase One and can go up to 80 percent, but for space constraints with the possibility to export the excess power generated into the national grid in line with the Energy Transition Plan of Nigeria on public utilities,” he said.
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He added that the company’s Pilot Renewable Energy at the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing in Mabushi, Abuja, is a good case study for other public buildings in Nigeria, noting that a similar project would provide the resilience and the cost saving measure that the State House requires.
According to him, “State House, being a very important edifice, would be a role model for all other public buildings especially as climate change is now a point of global focus.”
Also speaking at the meeting in the State House, the permanent secretary State House, Tijjani Umar, said the team came in upon the charge of the chief of staff for the office to seek best ways of overcoming the growing power challenges of the State House
He recalled that the chief of staff had also expressed concern over prohibitive cost of power generation as well as the unsustainable carbon footprint on the environment, which is not environmentally friendly and also costly to sustain.
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“Based on this, we invited EM-ONE for a presentation which recommended the option of a renewable energy solution. So, they provided options in their initial presentation which will enable us to scale down what we spend on power and are here with a follow up presentation with additional value-adds to enable us to arrive at a decision for a sustainable power solution for the State House,” Umar said.
By Ken Okoye
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