Lagos – Mr Javier BetanCourt, the Chief Party of the United States Nigeria Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Project(REEEP),on Monday urged the Federal Government to be committed to the initiative.
BetanCourt made the call in Lagos at a one-day seminar on Financing Renewable Energy Projects organised by the Consulate-General of the Federal Republic of Germany.
He said there was need for Nigeria to be more committed to the development of its renewable energy sector.
The energy development expert said that although the country was endowed with energy resources, the development of the sector was still fraught with challenges.
“Experience has so far shown that Nigeria has no standard for renewable energy and energy efficiency development equipment.
“Nigeria also presently has an unfair regulation on energy supply.
“Government should, therefore, come up with incentives, giving concessioning lending to developers.
‘’ Government needs to also facilitate selling of access energy back to grid,’’ he said.
BetanCourt also said the Federal Government was expected to play a major role in providing the necessary incentives to renewable energy developers.
He further enjoined the government to urgently begin to consider duty and tariff waivers for renewable energy equipment being imported into the country.
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Mr Olowo Olasunkanmi, the Head of Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) of Ecobank Nigeria Ltd, said that there was huge renewable energy potentials in Nigeria.
Olasunkanmi, who said that his bank was committed to financing renewable energy development in the country, urged developers to always understand the requirements for accessing the bank’s credit. (NAN)
