By PETER UZOHO

Some stakeholders in the Nigerian renewable energy sector have expressed their rejection of the proposal by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to design a rule that will allow excess solar power generation to be wheeled to the nation’s electricity grid.

They argued that the country is not generating enough solar power to warrant muting the idea of taking the excess to the grid, adding that even if there was excess, frequent outages and other encumbrances associated with the grid do not support such a proposal by the regulator.

President of the Governing Council of Nigeria’s Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Association Alliance (REEEAA), a body comprising developers, innovators and the likes, Prof. Magnus Onuoha, expressed his members’ view during an exclusive chat with THISDAY.

NERC had in a recent statement called on Nigerians to provide views on its draft regulations designed to enable solar power users to sell excess electricity back to the national grid.

It stated that Nigeria’s solar energy has grown significantly in recent years, pointing out that in 2023, Nigeria imported over 4 million solar panels, valued at more than $200 million while the value of imported solar panels reached about N125.29 billion in 2025.

The regulator also said that in 2024, Nigeria added 63.5 megawatts (MW) of solar power, stating that the country now has a total of 385.7MW of solar power.

It explained that this expansion reflects the increasing adoption of renewable energy, particularly in rural and off-grid areas, driven by government initiatives and private sector investments.

However, reacting to NERC’s proposal, Onuoha, who is also a developmental economist, stated that the idea was not feasible as the country was not yet generating enough solar power and that even the grid has a lot of barriers like frequent outages caused by system collapse.

He dismissed NERC’s claim that Nigeria has enough solar generation with 385MW, saying some countries currently boast of 20,000 to 80,000MW generation from solar.

He added that instead, the priority of the agency should be how to increase offgrid power and improve access to rural communities and small and micro enterprises (SMEs) and ultimately enhance their standard of living.

“Well, it’s not feasible without security and reliability of the grid. We in the alliance are even championing the off-grid system. The grid has its own shortcomings in terms of that.

“Millions of our people don’t have access to electricity and they live in rural areas, so our interest is not even taking it to the grid and all that. Our interest is: let the rural areas have access, because if you have access to electricity, there will be a lot of improvement in your quality of life – poverty alleviation, and standard of living,” Onuoha said.

He said his members were excited with the Electricity Act 2023 because of its prioritization of renewable energy, stating that over 90 per cent of the Act is on renewable energy.

He said the Act has empowered the sub-nationals to begin to play an active role in increasing access to electricity in the states and rural areas, noting that the states now have powers to generate, transmit and distribute power in their domains.

He said his association is clamoring for off-grid mechanism and has been relating more closely with the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), which is encouraging more renewable energy organisations and developers to start moving into rural areas under the off-grid mechanism.

With such an approach, he said REA is encouraging solar companies that can provide as much as 100 kilowatt, 500 kilowatt and 1MW to move to rural areas and help them with energy access and security. (This Day)