The Group General Manager, National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), Bala Wunti, has put global financial commitment on renewable energy in 2022 at about $2.1 trillion.
Wunti, who disclosed this at the ongoing fifth Nigeria International Energy Summit (NIES 2022), said the entire global energy industry is transiting and NAPIMS being a unit of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), is also transiting with it.
Speaking on the innovative strategies to revitalize the energy industry to deliver value to millions of stakeholders in the light of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), Wunti noted that for energy to be provided, it must be able to meet the 4As — it must be Available, Accessible, Affordable and should be delivered in an acceptable format.
He said: “$2.1 trillion is expected to spent on renewable energy in the year 2022 globally. All to fund renewable; that is three times what we spent to fund renewable energy last year. Therefore funding the transition of renewable energy is not going to be an easy thing.
“All of you should stay tuned and see the NNPC that will be unveiled come the first of July 2022. You will all be proud that you are a Nigerian because you will see the company going beyond what we think.
“We recognize the fact that we have a very strong resource base. We are sitting on top of 28 million barrel of liquid oil reserve and about 160 trillion cubic feet of gas had being managed by NAPIMS. Both in terms of liquid and gaseous form, we manage 75 percent of the nation’s hydrocarbon reserves.
“We also understand our role in underpinning carbon security. We understand that we need to play it responsibly and we do that.
“We also see ourselves as enablers for national development and growth, we recognize energy is needed. And for evergy to be provided, it must be able to meet the four As; it must be Available, Accessible, Affordable and should be delivered in an Acceptable format.”
Speaking on the Topic: Energy transition, finance and investment, Wunti noted that to produce and deliver energy the country needs investment.
According to him, the nexus between finance, energy, and investment is well established.
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“To produce and deliver energy, you need investment. To create investment you need money. When you have the money, you can invest, and when you invest you create the energy, and that creation of energy is value-adding and therefore you generate value, create value and deliver to the shareholders.
“When you create value, what you’re doing is you’re growing the capital of the company, you’re increasing the shareholder’s value and therefore you’re creating more money, and that same money will be reinvested and the cycle continues.
“So the nexus and the way the organizers choose it, I think it’s very much well articulated.
“We want to export our gas, we want to use that gas to compact into electricity and most importantly to convert it to a gas-based industry through using fertilizers, chemicals, whatever it is; liquid or solid. This will generate significant amount of money and capital,” Wunti explained.
Also speaking on NAPIMS up-stream Net-Zero policy, the NAPIMS boss disclosed that the nation’s carbon neutrality is anchored around what he called the 5Rs.
“Reduce emission and stop gas flaring; Reduce and recycle materials; Replant vegetations; Replace aging and inefficient equipment; Renew and Revamp infrastructure and facility. We are already doing all these with our partners.
“We believe that way we can give a bankable objective plan that will help us to Net-Zero by the year 2050.”
Also speaking, the Executive Vice-President, Oando Clean Energy, Mr Ademola Ogunbanjo called for a reduction in investment in oil and scale-up gas.
“Renewable energy are not here to replace oil and gas yet. What we are looking at doing in Nigeria is to support the effort of the government and to curate an indigenous approach to the energy mix that works for us using our natural resources to create the wealth that we will be using in investing and growing renewable energy space.
“The find that renewable energy will enjoy for growth comes from oil and gas. That mix is going to stay for the next 50 to 100 years I suppose.
“For the sake of our environment and incoming generation, is to reduce investment in oil and scale up gas so that the next two to three decades will find renewable provide more of the energy,” Ogunbanjo said.
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