REAN Launches Solar Energy Information Portal

Renewable Energy Association of Nigeria (REAN) says it is pleased to be at the forefront of activities promoting the growth and development of the renewable energy industry. Having regularly arranged or collaborated on awareness and capacity building programmes, the association is currently planning webinar to launch a solar energy information portal.

In a statement made available to NewsProbe, the Executive Secretary at REAN , Mrs. Lande Abudu, said, “The ultimate goal is to bring about a reduction in Nigeria’s energy poverty, thus reducing the adverse socio-economic effects on Nigerians. Solar works, saves money – New solar online portal highlights outstanding reference projects in Nigeria and presents qualified solar suppliers. The newest website from the Nigerian-German Initiative on solar knowhow & technology transfer is a market place where private and institutional customers interested in solar power can meet qualified solar suppliers who showcase their work in Nigeria with reference projects.

“The website also features an online PVCalculator that assesses the economics of solar investments and shows how solar helps reduce power expenses today.

“In Nigeria, the attitude towards solar power is still mitigated today as it is often heard that ‘Solar doesn’t work’ because some initial projects may have underperformed in the past. But never mind, the market is professionalizing: Actual professional solar projects realized by the Nigerian solar industry for mid-sized power users such as companies, hospitals and schools show that Nigeria is catching up to the international trend with a range of larger solar power projects, both in distributed and centralized market segments.

“Solar is already competitive now. In recent years, a silent revolution has been going on with solar power as it reached price parity with generator-based power production in a growing number of geographies. In many cases using solar energy has become cheaper than running diesel or gasoline generators, so solar power allows the user to save money, also in Nigeria.

“However, many Nigerians are not yet aware of the new specific competitiveness of solar power with diesel and gasoline generators, although this is in fact the prime news of the day. The new customer online portal www.solarworks.ng neutrally informs mid-sized power consumers about the opportunities of using solar power, also in combined diesel PV hybrid solutions.

“A video on the homepage explains the goals of the initiative. The website presently showcases more than 20 mid-scaled solar projects realized by 9 qualified Nigerian solar companies; and more companies and their projects will be published soon. The website also features an easy-to-use ‘PV-investment Calculator’ that compares the costs of solar power with the currently existing diesel generation costs for an individually planned PV project. Made by a team of German experts, the tool automatically calculates the LCOE, Payback, Equity IRR, Project IRR, NPV from just a few input data. It thereby generates an individual economic approximation of the considered solar investment for the user. For interested institutional investors or private solar investors in the wider general public, the portal also offers a vendor-independent, neutral telephone hotline operated by REAN. Under this hotline the interested parties can ask for personal guidance and advice or discuss technical economic topics of solar power.”