TITLE:
Solar PV Electrification in Nigeria: Current Status and Affordability Analysis
AUTHORS:
Ogheneruona Endurance Diemuodeke, Yacob Mulugetta, Henry Ifeanyi Njoku, Tobinson Alasin Briggs, Mohammed Moore Ojapah
KEYWORDS:
PV Electrification, Levelized Cost of Energy, PV Penetration, Solar Resource Potential, Affordability Index
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Power and Energy Engineering,
Vol.9 No.5,
April
30,
2021
ABSTRACT: Rural households represent, by far, the greater
percentage of dwellings globally without access to the electricity supply. For
reasons of low loads, distance from the grid and speed of deployment,
distributed energy systems are now considered viable options for rural
electrification. This paper presents the status of solar Photovoltaic (PV) in
Nigeria and discusses the way forward for aggressive PV penetration in
Nigeria’s energy mix, especially in rural communities. At present, distributed
PV penetration in Nigeria is comparatively low based on the International
Energy Association’s recommended PV market potential. This shows that there is
a gap between the government’s policy
targets and reality. The solar resource potential across the six geo-political zones in Nigeria is also presented, which ranges from 3.393 -
6.669 kWh/m2/day, with the
Northern zones exhibiting better potentials over the Southern zones. It is
shown that the levelised cost of electricity from PV system ranges from 0.387 -
0.475 $/kWh, whereas it is 0.947 US$/kWh and 0.559 US$/kWh for the diesel
generator and glass-covered kerosene lamp, respectively. While this study shows
that PV for rural household lighting is more affordable as compared to
glass-covered kerosene lamps and fossil-fuelled generators for lighting, fiscal
and energy policies for market creation are critical if PV systems are to
deliver on their promise for rural electrification and climate change
mitigation.