NIGERIA STUDIES WIND

Speaking on Ikeja Digital Village, Dr. Kadri Hamzat, Commissioner of Science and Technology for Nigeria’s Lagos State government, talked about wind energy development for the state and for Nigeria.

Ikeja Digital Village is a big breakthrough for Lagos State, Nigeria’s most economically developed region. The government’s website describes the newly developed computer network as a “state of the earth center” through which Nigeria can find “Poverty alleviation…Youth empowerment…Promotion of good governance by allowing free access to information and knowledge…Bridging the digital gap between the citizens of the State and their peers in the outside world…”

Dr. Hamzat: "It is not something that has been done before. We have about 340 PCs there, which means, at a time, I can train 80 people, and everybody will have his own PC…We are buying about two million books, not physical books, but computer books, whereby three persons can read a book at the same time…"

Having glimpsed the 21st century, the attention of the leaders in Lagos State immediately went to the region’s energy supply. In one of the world nations best positioned to know the good and evil that is oil, Nigeria’s leaders’ attentions turned to – wind.

Lagos State also sponsors a Solar Electrification Project.

Little is known with certainty about Nigeria’s wind energy potential. Assessments are under way. Studies are considering the cost effectiveness of using 2nd-hand turbines.

African Wind Energy Association

Click for the African Wind Energy Association.

Nigeria: Power – Lagos to Invest N34 Billion in Wind Energy
28 September 2008 (Abuja Leadership via AllAfrica)

WHO
Lagos State government (Dr. Kadri Hamzat, Commissioner of Science and Technology)

WHAT
Dr. Hamzat discussed plans the Lagos State government is launching to evaluate the potential of wind energy in his region and nation.

click to enlarge

WHEN
Wind power development in Lagos State is in the planning stages. Wind resource assessment is being done.

WHERE
Lagos State is the most economically developed administrative region of Nigeria and its 2nd most populous. The city of Lagos, Africa’s largest and fastest-growing urban region, is in Lagos State.

WHY
- Dr. Hamzat’s remarks on wind development were made via Ikeja Digital Village, Nigeria’s new Internet network. The minister told AllAfrica he has been researching wind energy via the Internet.
- Dr. Hamzat described wind energy as a potential answer to Nigeria’s power failures. He described “ineffectiveness” and “near collapse” of power generation in Nigeria and especially in Lagos State.
- Cost estimate: ~N34 billion (E200 million, $276 million)
- Preliminary estimates from the International Biometric Society suggest that one Lagos State locality, Lekki, could generate 1,000 megawatts of wind energy-generated electricity.

Studies on 2nd-hand wind. (click to enlarge)

QUOTES
Dr. Kadri Hamzat, Commissioner of Science and Technology "Wind energy is something we are considering because the world is thinking of comparative energy generally. I was viewing a documentary, which says that the United States has one per cent of their energy from wind, but they are thinking of increasing it to 11 per cent…it is expensive but then, do we have the skill to monitor it by the day? So, what His Excellency has directed, is that we must get experts who can enlighten us.”