What makes you think that OPC and those Talibans up north will not do same? Besides, MEND should know that nuclear holocaust will not differentiate between MEND and non-MEND populations.

Germannig

No mind them, let them blow if off, i will see where they would also run to,


I hope their parents are also there to witness it.

Germannig:

Nigeria one,

Could you adduce convincing reasons why all four nuclear stations allocated to the south should be sited in Yorubaland at the expense of other known energy consuming cities such as Port Harcourt, Aba and Onitsha? Plus, in which part of the country do we have the raw material (mainly uranium) to kickstart the plants?

But, I like your style sha. Unlike Fasehun, you do not mind for only the Yoruba population to receive the sure-to-come death knell (holocaust) which a nuclear project represents, at least by Nigeria's infrastructural history and standards.

Others:

Uranium is a non-renewable energy source. If you think coal, gas, petrol will exhaust, then so will uranium. Talking about sustainable power source, solar, wind and hydro power sources remain the best options for resource-poor countries.

I agree with that line there. We have those in abundance.

wind can't produce as much as nuclear or hydro enery.

bawomol:

wind can't produce as much as nuclear or hydro enery.

Please research these things to get fact to replace fiction.

i use to think also that wind can't not produce that much energy. But a new research says it can. If you locate the Turbine or vane offshore that is on the sea.  So Lagos state govt should be interested in this,  Lagos as enough coastline to produce enough electricity. There is a company that can do that if Governor Raji Fashola is interested.   

Over here 3000 MW is calculated for 1 million household = 4 million people( 4 in a family).


lagos state  17 million people  would need about 12,000-13000 MW. the cost ia about $2 .5 Billion   dollar,

Tidal/Wind energy on the scale needed for 12,000MW would cost 25 billion dollars to build, the UK is contemplating one now, and they still will not build it for several years to come. That is patently too expensive for us to pay.

Lagos does not have enough coastline to produce electricity, we do not have the best Wind resources in the world, ours is actually quite poor. No company right now can do that for us for two reasons

1. it is TOO EXPENSIVE to be feasible for us

2. we do not have the wind resource capability on that scale, at least as far as the ocean is concerned.

In places like Nigeria, Wind unfortunately CANNOT produce anything close to hydro in the foreseeable future, and even if it could, it would be too expensive to use.

Nigeria is NOT a resource poor country, we have hydro resources alright, but they take forever to build up and are seasonal in operation.

We should solve the ND issues and utilise our vast gas reserves to build up the economy so that in 15-20 years time, we will be rich enough to contemplate large scale renewable energy options. Right now, we cannot afford it.

Aba and P/H are proximally located to Oil and Gas resources, they do not need nuclear, it is more economical to use Oil and Gas.

Those talking of fuels running out, Coal will last at least 200 years more, within that time frame, better means would have been developed, ditto for uranium.

Even if we were to use only gas to power our facilities, it would still last over 40 years, during which we can develop capacity to use other forms of energy.

No one ever spoke of 13 plants or 8 plants or any rubbish, there is simply a feasibility study being carried out on POTENTIAL SITES of a nuclear station.

the locations chosen for assessment in the so called 'yorubaland' are because of the geological properties of the locations, very low seismic activity/risk as well as appropriate water table levels are necessary for siting a nuclear plant.

Renewables are a romantic concept for the most part, they are not affordable except in a few niche applications as far as Nigeria is concerned.

For God sake, I did not understand anything you said apart from 25 billion dollar. Which I know you are telling a lie. Another Nigeria fraud. This company is based in Canada. They can build at that price. Point a link to britain 25 billion dollar.

nigeria1:

i use to think also that wind can't not produce that much energy. But a new research says it can. If you locate the Turbine or vane offshore that is on the sea.  So Lagos state govt should be interested in this,  Lagos as enough coastline to produce enough electricity. There is a company that can do that if Governor Raji Fashola is interested.  

Over here 3000 MW is calculated for 1 million household = 4 million people( 4 in a family).


lagos state  17 million people  would need about 12,000-13000 MW. the cost ia about $2 .5 Billion   dollar,  

I do believe it is actually going to be more expensive than that to build. I remember some months back I did some research on some existing wind farms, one in particular, Horns Rev, in Canada cost about 2 billion to put together with a 160MW output, but I bet the people are not complaining about the cost of electricity or the fact that it is renewable. I do believe using wind and solar is feasible in Lagos if only good research is done and the government invests in plans that will not only work to put such together but also work on a maintainance plan as well. Nuclear to me is ok as well but in the hands of Nigerians, I have little confidence.

Building a nuclear plant in Nigeria will take about 10 years, and with the way things have worked so far in that country, it might take an additional 10 to actually boot up the reactor and get things rolling. We do not have another 10 to 20 years to wait for such. We are already 30 years behind and should be more in a rush to catch up. I do believe in the end, just as we have already seen, individual Nigerians and communities will have to take it upon themselves to do what they have to move the wheels of development in their favour. That is what I see happening.

@ nigeria1

A link to Britain 25billion? by all means http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/6681113.stm

That location is second only to the Bay of Fundy in Canada as a tidal location, now if it will cost them 14billion pounds, how much will our own low quality tides generate? note its anticipated to begin generating power in 11 years!

Even the experts claim it is in its infancy, so what do you know that we don't?

Even at that cost, it is estimated that it can generate 5% of UK power needs, that puts a figure of 3,750 MW going by the 75,000MW currently being used.

Now tell me, for a poor country like Nigeria, we should spend 14billion pounds on less than 4,000MW?

If we pay a turnkey contractor the money to build the plant in addition to a management contract, it will still take 10 years to build, but will start up immediately if the management is given out, which is the way things are going now. PHCN is being unbundled to competent foreign management, It can be done.

@ Kobo

private initiative as individuals can only go so far, unless concerted efforts are made for large scale power generation, these efforts will not be sufficient. People like Barth Nnaji of Geometric Power who will soon build stations in Aba and other locations are the ones I admire. As financial systems stabilize in Nigeria, large companies will be able to borrow locally and abroad and build new generating capacity.

You bet people aren't complaining about the cost? WRONG! The PRIME reason Canada will NOT enforce Kyoto right now is because doing that will cause 40% increases in power costs.

People are highly sentimental about 'Renewable energy' without being able to pay for it.

The truth is, Coal remains by far the cheapest source of Energy for Electricity, and will be around for a long time, over 200 years. Finding ways to clean that up in my view will be far more of an impact than the cry for renewables. They have their place no doubt, but as a compliment not replacement to conventional fossil fuel power.

why nuclear power. WE are not ripe for it.
Check out our records.
How many times did we record oil spillage last year
How many times did we record gas line burst
Can you count the number of time we had tanker burst last year.
Just some days ago , the telecomms exchange for all pto went down.
how many bridges collapsed last year.



and someone is talking about nuclear. [size=16pt]NO WAY [/size] ( for now in nigeria)

This might be WORLD bank idea of wipping US out

Please research these things to get fact to replace fiction.

what am i lying about, nuclear energy produces 20% of the US electricity followed by coal and hydro. Wind is only predominant in places like oregon and Massachusetts.

We are already 30 years behind and should be more in a rush to catch up

rushing things would lead to disasters. the soviet union rushed projects and it lead to disasters such as chernobyl or the shrinking of the aral sea. u can harness coal and hydro electricity at the moment while constructing nuclear plants. quick fixes don't work.

bawomol:

We are already 30 years behind and should be more in a rush to catch up

rushing things would lead to disasters. the soviet union rushed projects and it lead to disasters such as chernobyl or the shrinking of the aral sea. u can harness coal and hydro electricity at the moment while constructing nuclear plants. quick fixes don't work.

If you read my post you would see that in the same I said nuclear in Nigeria will take at least 10 years to construct and maybe another 10 to even power up and start supplying. How can you rush that one?? Re Read my post please to get a better Idea of where I am coming from here.

bawomol:

Please research these things to get fact to replace fiction.

what am i lying about, nuclear energy produces 20% of the US electricity followed by coal and hydro. Wind is only predominant in places like oregon and Massachusetts.

Actually, what you said about wind energy not being able to supply Nigeria's power needs is wrong and you need to research it to find facts. Just cause only a part of america uses wind does not equal Wind can not supply all of america. That is not same.

nigeria1:

lagos state 17 million people would need about 12,000-13000 MW. the cost ia about $2 .5 Billion dollar,

Na wa. 12-13000 MW for $2.5bn?

debosky:

@ Kobo

private initiative as individuals can only go so far, unless concerted efforts are made for large scale power generation, these efforts will not be sufficient. People like Barth Nnaji of Geometric Power who will soon build stations in Aba and other locations are the ones I admire. As financial systems stabilize in Nigeria, large companies will be able to borrow locally and abroad and build new generating capacity.

You bet people aren't complaining about the cost? WRONG! The PRIME reason Canada will NOT enforce Kyoto right now is because doing that will cause 40% increases in power costs.

People are highly sentimental about 'Renewable energy' without being able to pay for it.

The truth is, Coal remains by far the cheapest source of Energy for Electricity, and will be around for a long time, over 200 years. Finding ways to clean that up in my view will be far more of an impact than the cry for renewables. They have their place no doubt, but as a compliment not replacement to conventional fossil fuel power.

When speaking of Nigeria I choose to consider how far we have come waiting on the government to do it all for us hence the reason why I continue to believe that the people will have to provide for self if they really want to move themselves forward. We can continue to rely on government from today to the morrow, but history has shown us in that country not to put our eggs in one basket. Private innitiative may not go as far as we would like at first but it is a start and is greatly welcomed.


When it comes to renewable power, it is not about initial cost which remains high but the cost in the long run. In the situation I mentioned earlier, the cost was about 2.5 Billion but so far, the people are happy that the power burden they have had to deal with in the past has been greatly reduced and the system has so far received positives since it was put in place. Mind you it is the people's money that was used to pay for the program. Speculating that coal will be around for the next 200 years? What happened to the speculations on oil being available for 100's of years to come?? Companies are rushing to find other sources of enegy, investing billions of dollars for a reason in this venture. There are new projects popping up here and there to research alternative sources of energy for a very valid reason. America is looking into building more nuclear plants in the next couple of years cause they do not want to rely so much on coal anymore. I really do not think all persons share your view on this renewable energy issue. The push is great and not just to be ready for when these sources are depleated for also to help the atmosphere in some way or another.

The idea behind these moves is  not for reaping benefits all in the now but actually over the years. That is why more and more people seem to be buying into the renewable energy fad, even those who are anti-global warming. Renewable energy maybe expensive in the now but the idea is that it pays for itself over time. For instance, take a project tested in some villages in Africa by some organizations, The system cost about $1600 to put in place but so far, it has in a period of 2 years paid for itself and more. People in the village are able to run their mills, pump clean water and light their streets without waiting for the government to come to their aid. Are you saying this sort of expense if not worth it?? We seem to have this NOW way of looking at things but I think we need to start looking into the future NOW when we make decisions and that is what this should be about for Africa.

@Kobojunkie

There wouldn't be much fuss over fossil fuel if renewable energy offered higher long term returns. Energy companies wouldn't need Govt prompting to invest in renewable energy.America,Australia,Canada,Russia,e.t c would have simply sign ed the Kyoto Treaty without much ado.

The reality is,that both in the short term and in the long term,renewable energy is still financially uncompetitive.Never mind the oil price boom,coal has seen a resurgence-China builds 2 coal power stations every week

Now,if renewable energy offered such "wonderful" returns,why bother with coal?Why do you think China is gobbling up oil and gas from African suppliers?

Coal and gas still offer better returns,both in the long and short terms,and we have these in abundance. Lets steer clear of the renewable energy myths.

I-man:

@Kobojunkie

There wouldn't be much fuss over fossil fuel if renewable energy offered higher long term returns. Energy companies wouldn't need Govt prompting to invest in renewable energy.America,Australia,Canada,Russia,e.t c would have simply sign ed the Kyoto Treaty without much ado.

The reality is,that both in the short term and in the long term,renewable energy is still financially uncompetitive.Never mind the oil price boom,coal has seen a resurgence-China builds 2 coal power stations every week

Regardless, there is the push all over the world to move to renewable sources. Funding has been coming in from both the private sector as well as public for research and funding on renewable energy. This is not going to go away any time soon and in the long run, it is better for us to start investing now in this move than wait 10 years later to get the back end of the deal. We have made that mistake too many times over now and we do not need to continue in the same path. There have been various experiments over the years in various areas in africa to show that we can harness these resources to our advantage and this will go along way to help alleviate hunger if we are willing to take a look at it. There are already companies considering renting the deserts to build solar farms to supply energy to europe. We can continue to sit down and wait for others to do it all and then offer us hand downs or we can ourselves start dealing in this to our own advantage. South africa happens to be competing with the world already in this area. Where are we??


I am not in anyway calling for total abandonment on use of now sources for renewable. On the contrary, what I am saying is that we are not anywhere near where those countries are today and we can not afford to put all our eggs in one basket at this point and so we need to try to ply both routes at the same time. There is a huge push to find and use more renewable energy now more than ever before. We can not afford to wait 10 years for the construction of a Nuclear plant while we fold our hands doing nothing in the mean time. There are countries already working on so many ideas, ideas that we can invest in now and gain so much from in the near future. I have made it clear in my post that when we consider energy, we have to consider where we are currently on the scale to better map the best way to go.

Africa happens to be on the top most polluted continents list. If moving to renewable will help curb this problem we have and provide us needed energy even though initially at a higher cost, is it not worth it??

I do have an example to share. A man in Nigeria purchased a $3500 solar system in Nigeria and he has not paid NEPA any thing for over a year now. Infact, his light is on 24 hours of the day and he happens to work from home as well with no need to worry about electricity bill in that same country. He has electricity and water. No noise pollution and he is certainly not polluting the Nigerian air with his set up. Is that wrong

If you read my post you would see that in the same I said nuclear in Nigeria will take at least 10 years to construct and maybe another 10 to even power up and start supplying. How can you rush that one?? Re Read my post please to get a better Idea of where I am coming from here.

my bad, i see no reason why we can't have a peaceful nuclear program. s.africa. y can't we. making statements such as we have to rush to catch up seems like desperation at this point.


Actually, what you said about wind energy not being able to supply Nigeria's power needs is wrong and you need to research it to find facts. Just cause only a part of america uses wind does not equal Wind can not supply all of america. That is not same.

it would be unreasonable for a "whole" country to depend on Wind power. seriously are u gonna be building wind mills in every forest. it's just not happen. u have to numerous energy sources

it' not wrong but except the nigerian government is going to give people tax credits or subsidies to buy solar panels then it's unrealistic to expect nigerians to afford 2500 panels en masse.

bawomol:


If you read my post you would see that in the same I said nuclear in Nigeria will take at least 10 years to construct and maybe another 10 to even power up and start supplying. How can you rush that one?? Re Read my post please to get a better Idea of where I am coming from here.

my bad, i see no reason why we can't have a peaceful nuclear program. s.africa. y can't we. making statements such as we have to rush to catch up seems like desperation at this point.


Actually, what you said about wind energy not being able to supply Nigeria's power needs is wrong and you need to research it to find facts. Just cause only a part of america uses wind does not equal Wind can not supply all of america. That is not same.

it would be unreasonable for a "whole" country to depend on Wind power. seriously are u going to be building wind mills in every forest. it's just not happen. u have to numerous energy sources

Like I said earlier, the wind has enough energy to power a nation if the nation wants to use it. Putting a wind mill in every forest is a whole other argument.

bawomol:

it' not wrong but except the nigerian government is going to give people tax credits or subsidies to buy solar panels then it's unrealistic to expect nigerians to afford 2500 panels en masse.

Is the Nigerian government giving tax credits to the people who are now spending almost the same amount using generators to power their houses?? I don't believe of all the people in Nigeria who I know today who use solar to power their houses, I know of any who has received tax credit for installing such and I do not think any one of them is actually waiting for such.

Like I said earlier, the wind has enough energy to power a nation if the nation wants to use it. Putting a wind mill in every forest is a whole other argument.

i don't like the idea of only using wind but i guess that's where we disagree.


Is the Nigerian government giving tax credits to the people who are now spending almost the same amount using generators to power their houses?? I don't believe of all the people in Nigeria who I know today who use solar to power their houses, I know of any who has received tax credit for installing such and I do not think any one of them is actually waiting for such.

generators emitt pollutants and green house gases. i don't think they deserve rebates for that. should their NEPA bills be adjusted? yes but that's a different issue. germany and the US do it, if u want people to go reneweable, u have to give them incentives.

bawomol:

Like I said earlier, the wind has enough energy to power a nation if the nation wants to use it. Putting a wind mill in every forest is a whole other argument.

i don't like the idea of only using wind but i guess that's where we disagree.


Is the Nigerian government giving tax credits to the people who are now spending almost the same amount using generators to power their houses?? I don't believe of all the people in Nigeria who I know today who use solar to power their houses, I know of any who has received tax credit for installing such and I do not think any one of them is actually waiting for such.

generators emitt pollutants and green house gases. i don't think they deserve rebates for that. should their NEPA bills be adjusted? yes but that's a different issue. germany and the US do it, if u want people to go reneweable, u have to give them incentives.

My Wind answer is to your claim that wind can not provide energy that can power a nation and the answer to that is NO. The wind has enough energy to power a Nation. Will a nation want to use wind energy Alone to power itself, that is another debate. Please read my answers to understand what I mean.

In africa, waiting for government to give rebates on renewables will sort of be the same as waiting for government to provide you energy needed to power your business which depends on it. a dream that may never be realized. I suggest at this time we focus on telling people of the advantages rather than telling them of rebates that may never come. The People hardly get all the AIDs money they are supposed to get. Renewable in Nigeria might run the average user the same it would his generator and many trips to get diesel would. Advantage in this case is that pollution is greatly reduced and it is in the long run cheaper than using a generator considering how much it costs to keep it running on a daily basis, even for only 12 hours a day.

debosky, we are not talking about the same thing.

the uk plan involve building barrage alone the coast. the one i am talking about does not that. it is offshore based.  it is like building the oil rigged on the sea,  but this time wind turbine, 
see uk picture,  i am not talking the same thing. this system does not involve building barrage, we are not using tidal wave too like britain, just wind turbine on open ocean,

My Wind answer is to your claim that wind can not provide energy that can power a nation and the answer to that is NO. The wind has enough energy to power a Nation. Will a nation want to use wind energy Alone to power itself, that is another debate. Please read my answers to understand what I mean.

i never said wind can't provide enough energy for a nation just not as much as Nuclear or Hydro IMO. we are going in circles here.

In africa, waiting for government to give rebates on renewables will sort of be the same as waiting for government to provide you energy needed to power your business which depends on it.

i guess this is an issue of big or small government. i believe african governments have to provide more opportunities for small business to suceed. given out loans or tax rebates is a bright idea that would help. no one said we should wait for the government but many nigerians can't do it on their own.

The People hardly get all the AIDs money they are supposed to get. Renewable in Nigeria might run the average user the same it would his generator and many trips to get diesel woul

the key is MIGHT, we can't be so sure.

Advantage in this case is that pollution is greatly reduced and it is in the long run cheaper than using a generator considering how much it costs to keep it running on a daily basis, even for only 12 hours a day.

yes it is cheaper and safer in the long run but the main issue is that most nigerians can't affect the short term costs. this is where government assistance comes in. i guess it's 2 much to expect a government to create a safety blanket for it's people

wind power can provide that, even canada researcher hope to generate 47,000MW in Ontario canada by wind, using the same technology that lagos or nigeria can used.

Here is a picture of offshore wind project ,

I found this on another site. It tell you the cost of another project, The advantage of Wind over gas or coal is that we do dont need to alway power or supply gas or coal everytime, which cost money, Wind is free.

"""""""""

Currently, 65% of wind power generation is in Europe. The United Kingdom has initiated the London Array Project (LAR) which will make the U.K. owners of the largest offshore wind power farm. The project is intended to generate 20 gigawatts (GW) of power, supplying 17% of the energy demands of the country and to help the U.K. achieve green house gas emission targets. With five existing offshore wind farms in the U.K., the LAR has begun creating ten additional farms and plans for eight more are in development. The project is a 4 billion dollar investment in wind power by the U.K. government. """"


Please note that gigawatt 000000000 is 3 zero more than Megawatt 000000.

4 billion to generate 20 GW? ''

maybe that is just the initial investment towards research, but I can assure you that it is IMPOSSIBLE to generate 20GW with 4 billion. If it were that easy, why would the UK be spending $25 billion on a project to supply a mere 5% of energy needs.

even coal or gas will be far more expensive, costing about $1m per MW.

As I mentioned, the quality of wind resources in Nigeria is nowhere close to that in Europe. Even the projections being made in Ontario are nowhere close to being realised. Most of their power continues to come from Hydro, coal and nuclear. Even plans to shut down coal plants have been suspended for now because there is rapidly increasing energy demand that renewables cannot meet right now.

@ Kobo

there is enough energy in the sun itself to power the whole globe, that is not in question. The real issue is: Can this energy be harnessed economically and efficiently as well as in a cost effective manner?

The answer right now is NO, at least for the majority of applications. Niche uses in highly developed countries with rebates and high technology input which we can currently not afford. To place our hope in that would be foolhardy, when we have coal and gas and oil are lying in our backyard available for immediate utilisation with proven technology.

We should also try to move on with the Mambilla hydro project, we need that mega project started up as soon as possible so it can be ready in 7-10 years.

In Africa in general, the power of the Congo river can potentially generate 40,000MW which would serve a huge chunk of the continent's power needs. The issue is that such a project cannot be embarked upon single handedly by any country. This is where pan-African cooperation is needed.

debosky:

4 billion to generate 20 GW? ''

maybe that is just the initial investment towards research, but I can assure you that it is IMPOSSIBLE to generate 20GW with 4 billion. If it were that easy, why would the UK be spending $25 billion on a project to supply a mere 5% of energy needs.

even coal or gas will be far more expensive, costing about $1m per MW.

As I mentioned, the quality of wind resources in Nigeria is nowhere close to that in Europe. Even the projections being made in Ontario are nowhere close to being realised. Most of their power continues to come from Hydro, coal and nuclear. Even plans to shut down coal plants have been suspended for now because there is rapidly increasing energy demand that renewables cannot meet right now.

@ Kobo

there is enough energy in the sun itself to power the whole globe, that is not in question. The real issue is: Can this energy be harnessed economically and efficiently as well as in a cost effective manner?

The answer right now is NO, at least for the majority of applications. Niche uses in highly developed countries with rebates and high technology input which we can currently not afford. To place our hope in that would be foolhardy, when we have coal and gas and oil are lying in our backyard available for immediate utilisation with proven technology.

We should also try to move on with the Mambilla hydro project, we need that mega project started up as soon as possible so it can be ready in 7-10 years.

In Africa in general, the power of the Congo river can potentially generate 40,000MW which would serve a huge chunk of the continent's power needs. The issue is that such a project cannot be embarked upon single handedly by any country. This is where pan-African cooperation is needed.

I am quite certain I already spent enough time explaining my point in my posts so far. All this you post here has nothing to do with the real problem we have and I am not into dealing with what is not realistic considering we are speaking of Africa and not some other continent where things actually happen when they are supposed to.

sorry if I missed the 'point', can you succinctly rephrase the point?

I see you talking about people powering homes with solar panels, fair enough. That works for a home - lighting and other basic power needs.

how is that ever going to spur growth? Can the welder, panel beater and others rely on solar power to run their businesses given the cost outlay of these things?

You may say the total cost of running a generator is equivalent to solar or others, say over a period of 10 years or something. . .but how many people have the capital to make that initial outlay? Again i refer to the hairdresser and the other small business owners - can they afford the huge initial cost outlay of renewables?

Ghana, Kenya and a few other African countries are beginning to achieve stable power supply, so I do not agree with your 'continent where things do not work as they are supposed to' premise. Yes we undoubtedly have many problems with the way government goes about these activities, but renewables are certainly not going to drive that change.

It may be feasible for the above average middle class family to afford that, but all that achieves is you can sleep with light and a fan running. For any serious economical development, cheap and reliable base load generation capacity is needed. Whether we get that by leveraging on our oil resources to ensure that mulitnationals and others have to build new generating facilities to win blocks or we build and contract out the management, the truth is that the scale of power requirements we need cannot be met in the manner you have proposed.

debosky:

sorry if I missed the 'point', can you succinctly rephrase the point?

I see you talking about people powering homes with solar panels, fair enough. That works for a home - lighting and other basic power needs.

how is that ever going to spur growth? Can the welder, panel beater and others rely on solar power to run their businesses given the cost outlay of these things?

You may say the total cost of running a generator is equivalent to solar or others, say over a period of 10 years or something. . .but how many people have the capital to make that initial outlay? Again i refer to the hairdresser and the other small business owners - can they afford the huge initial cost outlay of renewables?

Ghana, Kenya and a few other African countries are beginning to achieve stable power supply, so I do not agree with your 'continent where things do not work as they are supposed to' premise. Yes we undoubtedly have many problems with the way government goes about these activities, but renewables are certainly not going to drive that change.

It may be feasible for the above average middle class family to afford that, but all that achieves is you can sleep with light and a fan running. For any serious economical development, cheap and reliable base load generation capacity is needed. Whether we get that by leveraging on our oil resources to ensure that mulitnationals and others have to build new generating facilities to win blocks or we build and contract out the management, the truth is that the scale of power requirements we need cannot be met in the manner you have proposed.

debosky:

sorry if I missed the 'point', can you succinctly rephrase the point?

I see you talking about people powering homes with solar panels, fair enough. That works for a home - lighting and other basic power needs.

how is that ever going to spur growth? Can the welder, panel beater and others rely on solar power to run their businesses given the cost outlay of these things?

YES , Y E S YES , IT is ALREADY HAPPENING IN VARIOUS LOCATIONS ACROSS AFRICA AS WE SPEAK.

debosky:

You may say the total cost of running a generator is equivalent to solar or others, say over a period of 10 years or something. . .but how many people have the capital to make that initial outlay? Again i refer to the hairdresser and the other small business owners - can they afford the huge initial cost outlay of renewables?

YES, Y E S yes, There are many organizations out there today that are designed to help small businesses that are serious about actually building a business to get such things. there are again, cases such as these across africa as we speak.

debosky:

Ghana, Kenya and a few other African countries are beginning to achieve stable power supply, so I do not agree with your 'continent where things do not work as they are supposed to' premise. Yes we undoubtedly have many problems with the way government goes about these activities, but renewables are certainly not going to drive that change.

No need repeating myself . Spend time reading my responses to posts and you will definitely see what I have been saying all along.