Leadership (Abuja)
6 May 2008
Professor Georg Erdmann, an Energy Economist from Germany, has advised the Nigerian government to play down the issue of nuclear power until 2020.
Speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Abuja, Erdmann said with the country's current installed capacity of only 6,000 megawatts of electricity, nuclear power was not feasible.
"A lot of energy is required for the production of nuclear energy. Nuclear power cannot be produced when the country's over-all installed
electricity generating capacity is only 6,000 megawatts.
"I want to suggest that nuclear power should be something that should come up after the year 2020, when the country's electricity installed capacity must have reached the targeted 60,000 megawatts," he said.
Erdmann said the country needed to focus its attention toward achieving the set target before adding nuclear, solar, biomass and others.
Erdmann, who also is a stakeholder in the International Association for Energy Economics (IAEE), identified inadequate manpower as a major obstacle to the development of energy infrastructure in Nigeria.
"Nigeria as one of the big oil exporting countries can easily take some of its resources and invest into infrastructure development to improve on the electricity grid and others.
"So, the issue is not about money, but that of knowledge and management," he said.
Erdmann said he was satisfied with the recently concluded International Conference by the Association for Energy Economics in Abuja.
"I found a lot of issues that should continue to be discussed in the future.
"We have to discuss the institutional problems, we also have to discuss more of not only how to design the institutions, but also how to make it work properly," the economist said. (NAN)
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