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From Isaac Anumihe, Abuja
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO) of Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Abba Aliyu, has said that about 80 million Nigerians have access to electricity, a situation that calls for more penetration of power to the rural areas.
Speaking when a delegation of Zanzibar Utilities Regulatory Authority (ZURA) paid him a visit for an exchange of knowledge on system dispatch and grid stability, Aliyu, said that Nigeria is not doing badly considering its large population.
Highlighting the importance of electricity to nation’s development, Aliyu stated that electrification is everything.
“Electricity will determine how health services will be done, how education will be done, how agriculture will be done, how everything is going to be. And that is why we call it the electrification of everything” he said.
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REA stated that there’s a high rate of electricity demands across the world, saying that there are three issues that necessitate the current high demand for electricity which include the electrification of everything, population growth, AI and data centres.
“These three reasons are changing the demand for electricity. And the entire world, whether we are ready in Africa or we are not, electricity is going to change every single thing that we are going to do” he emphasised.
According to Aliyu, as the world continues to use more and more AI, the need for electricity will continue to be increased.
“And already European Union (EU) permitted $150 billion for net zero manufacturing, which is just electricity, renewable, and infrastructure.
In her remarks, Director, Stakeholders Management, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Dr. Maryam Yaya Abubakar assured that Nigeria could build a mini-grid of up to 10 megawatts interconnected and five megawatts isolated.
