Lalong unveils policy on renewable energy

From Ado Abubakar Musa, Jos

In an effort to ensure more energy supply, the Governor Simon Bako Lalong of Plateau State has unveiled state policy and strategy on renewable energy with the target of supplying at least about 10% of the renewable energy ratio in the national energy mix.
Lalong made the unveiling yesterday during the closing ceremony of the 3rdNational Council of Power (NACOP) held at Crest Hotel in Jos.
In a speech, the governor said that the policy was also presented along with two other supporting documents- the Plateau State Rural Electrification Plan and the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Guidelines for Solar Mini-Grids, with the main objective of accelerating the electrification in rural clusters of the state.
“We are in full support of the national power goal of 30:30:30 being pursued by Nigeria towards not just improving power supply, but doing so with emphasis on increasing the contribution of renewables in the national energy mix as we join the world to combat and mitigate the adverse effects of climate change.”
He added that Plateau has the exceptional advantage of enjoying the abundance of four of the major renewable energy sources of solar, wind, small hydro and biomass and the state’s target would be to at least supply about 10% of the renewable energy ratio in the national energy mix.
Gov. Lalong stated his government has been currently focusing to maximizing the state’s economic potentials in agriculture, solid minerals and tourism and good power supply would enable investors to add value to agricultural products from the farms, process the minerals from the mines and to also improve services at hospitality and tourism facilities.
Lalong, however, craved the indulgence of the Federal Government on the resumption and completion of work at the numerous REA project sites all over the state that have remained abandoned for many years.