By Mary Onyia
Fresh insights into global developments in the renewable energy sector formed the focal point of the recent stakeholder engagement in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
The insights were shared at a training, organised and facilitated by Nexgen Energy Hub, Ibadan, in collaboration with its China partners, Techfine, aimed to improve service delivery to consumers of renewable energy. The engagement drew stakeholders from different parts of the country.
Addressing newsmen at the event, Nexgen Energy Head, Technical Department, Mr. Noah Ojo, said renewable energy is the way out of the power supply crisis facing the country, adding that the gathering sought to identify current challenges confronting partners in the sector and brainstorm ways to tackle them.
“Considering the current situation of power in Nigeria, I think the stakeholders in the power sector, especially renewable energy, are solution providers in this critical time that our nation is in.
“I am talking about a situation where everybody is, one way or another, migrating to get an alternative power source”, Ojo said.
He added that the initiative for the training was geared towards understanding the plight of stakeholders driving the renewable energy sector and addressing such concerns.
“They’re the people tasked with handling this situation in the country. Everybody wants to switch to renewable energy, so there’s a lot of pressure on them.
“And as a renewable energy company, we are looking at how we can provide them with what they need to meet the needs of customers.
“They are our partners, and we see the necessity to step in and offer support at a point when the energy crisis has reached its peak. So, this training is all about getting to know what their challenges are and how we can address them”, Ojo said.
Also speaking at the occasion, Mr. Taiwo Igbasan of Techspace Energy said the training provided a better understanding of the available products in the market, as well as flexibility in deciding on the suitability of a particular product for an application at the installation site.
“So, I think it’s really important that installers get to attend this kind of meeting so they have better knowledge of what is available for their customers”, he said.
Igbasan attested to a boom in the renewable energy sector, saying that “for the Presidency to go completely off grid is a big win for the renewable sector in Nigeria”.
He, however, advocated government regulation of prices and quality at the point of importation, and even after importation, to ensure that products coming into Nigeria meet approved standards.
Another stakeholder at the training, Mr. Odekanmi Oluwadamilare of Dretech Energy, appreciated the organisers, noting that it would tremendously assist renewable energy dealers in understanding new products and market trends.
“The facilitators have exhaustively elaborated on the areas I had wanted to raise questions about, such as the latest technology on each of the inverters and the latest products that have been designed. So, they have taken us through all the products, and we now have a deeper understanding of which type of inverter can work with a specific battery”, Oluwadamilare said.
He identified the worrying issue of inexperienced engineers in the sector as a major concern to end users, stressing that panels had, on occasions, wreaked havoc on property.
“As much as there is a high demand for solar energy, there is also a vast number of inexperienced and incompetent engineers out there”, Oluwadamilare said, calling for a financial body to take up a middleman role that would make solar adoption easy and affordable for end users.
Explaining the inspiration for the training, Nexgen Energy Capacity Building Team Lead, Kemi Aiyekitan, said the backbone of every organisation is feedback, adding that the company had received feedback on product quality, availability, and durability.
Nexgen Energy Hub debuted in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital on March 17, 2022.