Electricity: Substandard inputs, components, others affect renewable sector — Experts

The Executive director, Gennex Technologies, Mrs. Toyin Ilo, has identified substandard inputs and incompetent installers, and others as the main challenges facing the renewable sector in Nigeria.

She said the problems were very negatively impacting, thus eroding the confidence of customers in the renewable sector.

Speaking at the just-concluded Colloquium 2022 in Lagos, she said: “One of the major challenges confronting our sectors is how to properly size and design solar solutions to make them more cost-effective and at the same time durable. At Gennex, we have blazed the trail by coming up with innovative approaches to tackling this problem, but the situation in the entire industry is not helped by the proliferation of inexperienced and unqualified “solar installers” who advise commercial, industrial and even residential customers on solutions design and sizing, and choice of inputs.

“Secondly, the industry is still grappling with the challenge of sub-standard inputs and components, which has the capacity to erode the confidence of customers in their journey to transition to renewable energy. The final challenge the industry is grappling with is how to ensure that Commercial and Industrial customers, as well as other end users have access to innovative financial packages to assist them in the uptake of solar solutions.

“These issues are germane to the development of the entire renewable energy industry in Nigeria and as a leading player and thought leader in the industry, we strongly believe our role in the industry is to provoke discussions on these challenges and highlight solutions. This is why the Gennex Colloquium 2022 comes in.

“This event was put together to bring all of us – industry leaders and experts, policy actors, leading energy companies, financial institutions, civil society as well as end users into the same room to discuss these challenges confronting the sector. Our expectation is that by bringing the entire ecosystem together to highlight and distil these issues and solutions, we will have workable plans of action going forward.”

Similarly, the Regional Sales Manager of Africa, Trojan Battery Company, Gerrit Barnard, said, the renewable sector has the capacity to solve the nation’s challenges, adding that operators should make use of professionals and quality components, especially batteries.