Small Hydropower development and rural transformation

This week the world celebrated Global Hydropower Day, aimed at celebrating the impacts of hydropower in our world. In the spirit of #GlobalHydropowerDay, I touched on the potential of small hydropower systems in Nigeria. I suggested a strategic framework for development and barriers to the development of Small Hydropower (SHP) in Nigeria.

85% of Nigeria’s installed grid-connected electricity generation is fossil fuel (natural gas) 14.5% - Large Hydropower and 0.5% - small hydropower (up to 30MW). With Nigeria’s electricity value chain in an abysmal state, incorporating a diverse mix and mode of electricity sources will enhance reliability, accessibility and improve availability. According to UNIDO, there is a large potential for SHP in Nigeria because of the numerous rivers and dams. SHP has a theoretical potential of 3500MW in Nigeria from the 269 potential sites identified.

Most SHP resources are located in remote locations, making SHP economically viable for many applications in remote, off-grid, grid-based communities. Nigeria has significant untapped SHP potential, and proper exploitation of this potential would not only enhance power supply but also boost economic implications on the fish industry, agriculture, tourism, and the provision of low-cost energy for social development growth.

Barriers to the development of small hydropower in Nigeria

• Illiquidity in the Nigerian electricity sector
• High initial development cost and funding
• The location of SHP limits their connection to the national grid.
• Technical expertise and capacity
• Stiffening business policies (and/or poor implementation) at all levels of government.
• Poor project planning and management

Hypothesis: Community-led SHP development

Community-led infrastructure development framework can be an option for SHP development. This framework will allow communities to pull resources together for the development of SHP and the associated transmission system. The facility will directly generate and provide electricity to the local communities. This framework will diverge from the traditional federal government-led power infrastructure development. Communities can leverage their citizens in the diaspora to raise funds, and local institutions for capacity development, while the state and local governments can also provide funding. This framework may require changes to policy as the government may have to relinquish (some of) its geospatial power to the community. The will have to be a development of a commercial and operational mechanism for this project. 

Developing run-of-river small hydropower projects for rural electrification can be an essential tool for poverty alleviation.