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SON explores potential in renewable energy

Standard Organisation of Nigeria SON12

As part of the Federal Government’s agenda for economic diversification, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has unfolded potential and opportunities in the nation’s energy sector. This, the agency did through the approval and launching of four new standards for renewable energy and energy efficiency. According to the agency, apart from increasing access to power supply across the country, the new standards would open up improved investments in the renewable and efficient energy sector.

A statement from the office of the Director General, SON, Mallam Farouk Salim, explained that the solar power industry relied heavily on standardisation, adding that renewable energy had become increasingly important across the country. The agency has, therefore, unveiled new energy standards for energy meters, solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, inverters, batteries and charger controllers.

According to the standards body, this is to substantially increase the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix under the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Besides, the standards body stated that in a country such as Nigeria where expensive and ecologically harmful diesel generators are widely used, the unveiling of new standards would improve access to electricity in Nigeria. SON said it would deploy a multi-stakeholder approach with consultations and inputs from relevant public-private entities to develop a more regulated and standardised market that encourages further investments into renewable energy and efficient energy sector.

To achieve this, SON is currently being supported by the Nigerian Energy Support Programme (NESP), a technical assistance programme co-funded by the European Union and the German Government and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Power.

SON noted that due to its flexibility and affordability, solar power has fast become the most popular form of renewable power. SON said NESP aimed to improve the framework conditions for investments in the application of renewable energy and energy efficiency and rural electrification, saying that its main objective is to provide guidance towards the achievement of the objectives of the strategy set for the implementation of renewable energy policy.

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