The Minister, Ministry of Niger Delta Development (MNDD), Engr. Abubakar Momoh has said, the adoption of renewable energy to the remote areas in the Niger Delta region would boost the living conditions of the people.
This was contained in a statement made available on Wednesday by the Director of Press and Public Relations, Chindaya Ahmadu in Abuja.
Momoh in his remarks while playing host to officials of SAF-AGA, a Solar Hybrid Mini-Grid Solar Power Partners in his office, said, the introduction of renewable energy for the production of electricity in remote areas could enhance development in the region.
According to the Engineer, “solar energy, generated from the solar-powered system is clean energy, cleaner than gas which is transition energy. Adopting solar-powered energy is adapting to global best practices, moving away from fossil energy that consumes a lot of resources in building and operating a transmission station,” he said.
The former lawmaker added that clean energy is invoked globally and would also earn carbon credit.
He assured that, the Ministry Will key into alternative energy sources to see that most of the communities that are hitherto not connected to the national grid will also have access to power via the solar-powered system.
Earlier, the Managing Director, SAF-AGA, Godbless Safugha, explained that their focus is to develop a mini-grid in communities that do not have access to power grid.
While noted that they have started with four communities in the Niger Delta, in Delta state, Safugha said, two mini-grids are being constructed each in Bomadi and Burutu local government areas which they hope to expand later.
“Out of these four mini-grids, we are able to complete one grid. The four grids would power 2,500 households, the one that will be commissioned soon is connected to 350 households and we hope to expand to 595 households”, he stated.
