The European Union (EU) has disclosed its extension of €48 million investment in the Nigerian Energy Support Program (NESP) will be extended till next year in partnership with Germany’s Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).
The EU and the German government have decided to prolong the NESP’s second phase to November 2022 for EU contributions and May 2023 for BMZ contributions.
The NESP is a technical support program operated by GIZ in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Power and co-funded by the European Union and the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) (FMP).
Ms. Cecile Tassin-Pelzer, Head of Cooperation, EU Delegation to Nigeria and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), stated at an event in Abuja that the initiative is a shining example of how Nigeria and the EU can work together effectively.
However, in addition to boosting renewable energy and energy efficiency, the project, which is now underway in 22 states across Nigeria, has been hampered by instability in some parts of the country, particularly in the north.
“The program is a notable example of efficient cooperation among the EU and the Nigerian partners, bringing tangible results to the country,” Tassin-Pelzer noted.
She stated that the project aims to ensure that the country’s renewable energy and energy efficiency potential is fully realized and that the program will assist the Nigerian government in implementing sustainable energy policies and regulatory tools.
Mini-grid regulations, the national renewable energy, and energy efficiency strategy, and the building energy efficiency code, according to her, are among these sectors.
The focus changed from framework support to implementation in the second phase, heralding the mini-grid acceleration scheme and the linked mini-grid accelerator scheme.
GIZ Nigeria and ECOWAS Country Director Ina Hommers also commented that over 3,000 towns and 2.6 million buildings had been remotely mapped, with over 50,000 kilometers of electricity grid tracked throughout 22 Nigerian states.
