admin
April 14, 2025
REA: From rural electrification agency to renewable energy agency
The purpose of this article is to briefly review Chapter 4 of the National Integrated Electricity Policy, titled, “Climate Change, Nigeria’s Low Carbon Economy, and the Energy Transition,” then review the programmes of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) and make a case for it to be transformed into or repositioned as the Renewable Energy Agency (REA) of Nigeria in order to expand its scope and empower it to pursue the realisation of Nigeria’s ambitious renewable energy agenda, with far-reaching implications for decarbonisation, clean cooking, net-zero emissions, green economy and the achievement of United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7), which targets access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all by 2030.
“Nigeria has recorded some success in the off-grid subsector through the implementation of off-grid energy projects such as the World Bank-financed Nigerian Electrification Project (NEP) implemented by the Rural Electrification Agency and the Nigerian Energy Support Programme (NESP).”
Previous articles in this column in the last few weeks have focused on the review of the first three chapters of the National Integrated Electricity Policy, which deal with the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI), consisting of power supplied through the national grid via the generating companies (GenCos), the transmission company (TCN) and the distribution companies (DisCos). Chapter 4 is very important because it focuses on climate change and the energy sources of the future with implications for energy security, inclusiveness, and environmental sustainability.
Climate change issues have been around for a long time but it is only in the last four decades or so that global attention has been drawn to developments like the depletion of the ozone layer, global warming, rising sea levels, the unsustainable use of natural resources and rapid increases in population of the world, which turned “sustainable development“ into a major plank of public policy globally. It was not until relatively recently that the implications of global warming and climate change for different sectors of the economy, including agriculture and energy, became more apparent; and the need for urgent action, an imperative. As revealed and reviewed in Chapter 4 of the National Integrated Electricity Policy, Nigeria is signatory to three international treaties on climate change: the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), adopted at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held at Rio de Janeiro Brazil on May 9, 1992. Nigeria is also a party to the Kyoto Protocol signed on December 11, 1997; and the Paris Agreement adopted on December 12, 2015.
Read also: Renewable energy policy: The role of government in supporting clean energy transition
Following these agreements Nigeria has produced a number of policy instruments aimed at implementing climate programmes in Nigeria. These include the Climate Change Policy and Response Strategy (2012), which aims to “foster a low-carbon, high-growth economic development path and climate-resilient society in Nigeria”; the National Adaptation Strategy and Plan of Action for Climate Change Nigeria (NASPA-CCN); and the National Climate Change Policy for Nigeria, 2021. Nigeria has also enacted the Climate Change Act 2021, which “establishes a legal framework for climate change governance in Nigeria and created a National Council on Climate Change”, providing a framework for “achieving the country’s long-term climate goals, including net-zero carbon emissions by 2060”; the National Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Policy (NREEEP) 2015, which “emphasises low carbon emissions in the power sector to diversify Nigeria’s energy mix, focusing on renewable energy sources like solar, wind, and biomass.” Nigeria’s Energy Transition Plan (ETP) was launched in 2023, detailing “specific sub-sector pathways of low-carbon development across five key energy areas: Power, Clean Cooking, Transport, Industry, and Oil and Gas.”
Nigeria has recorded some success in the off-grid subsector through the implementation of off-grid energy projects such as the World Bank-financed Nigerian Electrification Project (NEP) implemented by the Rural Electrification Agency and the Nigerian Energy Support Programme (NESP).
The Rural Electrification Agency (REA), which was primarily established for rural electrification, is strategic for the realisation of Nigeria’s overall renewable energy agenda. The mandate of REA is “1) promote rural electrification in the country, 2) coordinate rural electrification programmes in the country and 3) administer the Rural Electrification Fund (REF) to promote, support and provide rural electrification through public and private sector participation.” The programmes of the Agency include the Energising Education Programme (EEP) “an initiative of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN), to provide sustainable and clean power supply to 37 Federal Universities and 7 University Teaching Hospitals across Nigeria,” the Solar Power Naija (SPN) project targeting installing of five million solar house systems (SHS) targeting 25 million people; implementing the Africa Mini Grids Programme (AMP) in Nigeria; the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)-financed Derisking Sustainable Off-Grid Lighting Solutions in Nigeria; and the Global Cleantech Innovation Programme, jointly implemented with the Federal Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (FMSTI), and Co-Creation Hub (CcHUB).
The climate change and renewable energy challenge of Nigeria, especially toward achieving net-zero emission by 2060 are far-reaching, which also explains a number of forward-looking policy frameworks and programmes that have been put in place by the Federal Government over the last few decades. The enactment of the Climate Change Act 2021, which provides for the creation of a National Council on Climate Change, is laudable. However, there is an urgent need for an effective national agency to coordinate Nigeria’s overall climate change and renewable energy strategies and programmes for optimal results, both in the short, medium and long term.
The least-cost and most effective and efficient route to achieve that purpose is to transform the Rural Electrification Agency into the proposed Renewable Energy Agency (REA). This will be achieved by expanding its scope and mandate to pursue the realisation of all government’s policy objectives in the climate change and renewable energy space. This will necessarily require a new enabling act or the amendment of the Climate Change Act 2021 to incorporate the functions and mandates of the proposed Renewable Energy Agency. The reach and scope of the new agency will certainly be more expansive taking into account all the stakeholders in the renewable energy industry, emerging technologies and a burgeoning market for renewable energy that could be valued in trillions of naira and possibly contributing a minimum percent of Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP) by 2060.
Mr Igbinoba is Team Lead/CEO at ProServe Options Consulting, Lagos.
