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WIEN/REAN Make Clarion Call for Corporate Signatories to Gender Charter
Margaret Nongo-Okojokwu
Lande Abudu Executive Secretary (REAN) Funmi Ogbue, President (WIEN)
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Women in Energy Network (WIEN) and the Renewable Energy Association of Nigeria (REAN) have made a call for advocates of women to openly show solidarity in the signing of the African Gender Charter.
The clarion call to sign the prowomen Charter was made by both associations at the recently held symposium themed “Light Up Africa” which was done to commemorate the International Women’s Day.
Speaking at the launch of the Charter, Udom Inoyo a member of the Board of Trustee for WIEN said it was important for firms to identify with the aspirations of women in the energy space. He noted that the Charter provides an auspicious platform for companies to move beyond the rhetoric and to show solidarity with the women.
“Today’s signing ceremony on one hand speaks to the journey of most of you (women) on this platform and your accomplishments and I think you should be proud of yourselves. On the other hand, it is a sad reminder of the state of affairs in our country, especially with students unable to stay in school or concentrate on their studies for fear of being taken by bandits. The call for the girl child was already steep, but now we need to dig ourselves out of the hole and that in itself most be a daunting task, but we should never, never, give up,” he said while publicly committing to the charter.
In the same vein, Amina Maina, another member of the Board of Trustee for WIEN committed to an increase in the number of women at the decision-making level of organisations. She explained that the reason she chose this commitment is because she believes that the more women in position of influence who fight for the cause of other women, the faster it will become for women to achieve their aspirations.
“I am committing to champion the increase in the number of women at the decision-making level, within circle of influence and the general society,” she said.
Some commitments on the Charter include: to ensure gender equality and inclusion; to contribute to gender inclusion in the transition to cleaner energy; to inspire and sponsor to study STEM related courses; and inclusion of women at the decision-making level, amongst others.
Chioma Ome, the Manager of Performance and Training at Solar Sisters who also doubles as Head of Communications at REAN, however noted that it will remain an ongoing process, as “the association continues to welcome willing corporates who want to sign the charter”.
She added that a follow-up with the signatories as regards the signed commitment is not to “give room for intrusion”; but that “signatory companies are allowed to go at their own pace while the secretariat documents progress”.
This year’s symposium which had Light Up Africa as its theme was graced by Mele Kyari, the Group Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and Danmilola Ogunbiyi, Chief Executive of UN-Energy as both delivered keynote addresses.
Speaking on increased energy access in Nigeria and the role of women in one of the panel sessions, the Managing Director of Waltersmith Patroman, Chikezie Nwosu, said, “It is important for Africa to realise we haven’t managed to consume the amount of energy that is required to consume. Therefore, the first thing that Africa needs to do, is about consuming. We need to start consuming the God-given resources of energy; whether it is fossil fuels, which are still part of the energy mix, or whether it is renewables like wind and solar, which are very predominant in terms of natural resources in Africa.”
Also speaking in a panel session, the Founder/Chief Executive Officer of Sosai Technologies, Habiba Ali, who spoke on energy transition, discussed some of the challenges renewable energy companies in the country are facing and how they are coping.
“We have the output-based fund, which helps to solve the problem of what it costs to actually deploy solutions, because it is one thing to manufacture the solution, it is another to deploy it. It is very hard to get into those rural areas and sell these products and that is where we have had to suffer all these years,” she said.
On her part, the Country Director of Solar Sister, Olasimbo Sojinrin, while discussing workplace policies, emphasized the need for companies to adopt positive discrimination to address the issue of discrimination against women in workplace.
She said, “For us, it is like the very first basic policy that every organization should have, that is no-discrimination and equal employment opportunity policy, which I think is actually essential. For us at Solar Sisters, we are positively adding more women to the green workforce, ensuring that we are grooming a workforce that is green, that has the expertise, but it is also mostly women.”
Other highlights of the event include the Winning with Women Awards (WIWA) and the Supernova Girl launch.
Winners of the WIWA award include: Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Engr Simbi Wabote, who won the Gender Advocate of the Year 2020 category; the Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder of Ashdam Solar Company Ltd, Damilola Ashaleye who won the Woman Making Most Impact category; and Senator Sabo Mohammed Nakudu, Chairman Joint Committee on Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), Nigerian Senate, who won the Most Inclusive Agency category. Others include the CEO of Anergy Solar, Femi Adeyemo who won Corporate with Most Diverse Management Team; the Executive Director of Sahara Group, Tope Shonubi who won the Sponsor for Women in Leadership category; and the Managing Director of Waltersmith Patroman Ltd, Chikezie Nwosu who won the category for Best Place for Women to Work award.
Equally launched on the same day is the ‘Supernova Girl’ initiative which creates an avenue for funding of girls in STEM. It also seeks to pair volunteering mentors with girls in STEM to bring out the best in them.
WIEN is an association established in 2020 to provide a platform for Women that work across the Energy Industry value chain; to network and build confidence and links to progress their careers or businesses.
REAN on the other hand, is an independent, not-for-profit organization founded by renewable energy professionals, project developers and practitioners in Nigeria’s renewable energy sector, dedicated to promoting the growth and development of the industry in Nigeria by engaging with the public and private sector to guide advocacy, policy formulation and investment in the sector.
Total Partners Siemens Energy to Reduce LNG Related Emissions
By Mordi Chukwunonso Esther
Total and Siemens Energy has signed a Technical Collaboration Agreement to study sustainable solutions for CO2 emissions reduction. The collaboration will focus on natural gas liquefaction facilities and associated power generation.
Total is the world’s second largest privately owned LNG player, with a global portfolio of nearly 50 Mtpa by 2025 and a global market share of around 10%. The Group benefits from strong and diversified positions throughout the LNG value chain: gas production and liquefaction, LNG transportation and trading, and contribution to the development of the LNG industry for maritime transport while Siemens Energy is one of the world’s leading energy technology companies. With its portfolio of products, solutions and services, Siemens Energy covers almost the entire energy value chain – from power generation and transmission to storage.
Each partner will bring together their best-in-class technologies and combine their know-how to deliver industrial-stage solutions such as combustion of clean hydrogen in gas turbines, competitive allelectrical liquefaction, optimized power generation, the integration of renewable energy in liquefaction plants’ power system and their efficiency enhancement.
Arnaud Breuillac, President Exploration & Production at Total said, “This collaboration with Siemens Energy, a major player in the energy technology sector, brings many opportunities to further reduce the carbon footprint of our activities, especially in our strategic LNG business,”
“The development of low-carbon LNG will contribute to meet the growth in global energy demand whilst reducing the carbon intensity of the energy products consumed. Reducing its carbon footprint is essential for LNG to play its role fully in the energy transition.”
Thorbjörn Fors, Executive Vice President of the Industrial Application Division at Siemens Energy said, “We are pleased to partner with Total as one of the main players in the LNG value chain to explore how we can competitively reduce the carbon footprint of brownfield and greenfield LNG projects,” said
“The agreement is a next step, following our announcement last June to collaborate together and conduct studies exploring possible liquefaction and power generation plant designs to help decarbonize the production of LNG.”
Shell Partners C-Quest Capital to Provide Green Stoves to 1.5m Homes in East Africa
More and more companies wanting to reduce their carbon footprint are using the carbon offset market. This method is still struggling to gain unanimity among environmentalists, but the oil giant Shell believes in it and is involved.
Shell and social impact project developer C-Quest Capital announced on April 16 that they have signed a contract to distribute clean and sustainable stoves for 1.5 million rural households in East Africa. This will be made possible by funding 60 million CO offsets2 Shell, for the voluntary carbon market.
Under the agreement, more than three million stoves powered by wood biomass will be delivered over the next decade to replace the use of firewood, which is responsible for air pollution and greenhouse gases.
Both sides also said that this investment will help improve the health of more than 7 million people and will make it easier for women and girls to be empowered by preventing them from transporting firewood over long distances.
“The agreement with Shell significantly and in the long term transforms the lives of some of the world’s poorest communities. It is not just about reducing emissions, but about improving the health and well-being of women, who are the main agents of social and economic development in rural Africa. Climate finance is just one way to achieve a development goal,”said Ken Newcombe, CEO and founder of C-Quest Capital.
However, the voluntary market for carbon credits remains largely unregulated and is the subject of controversy within environmental groups about the credibility of carbon offset initiatives. Their ability to generate real CO reductions2 is always in question.
For C-Quest Capital, there is no doubt about this market. The latter states that it has already reduced more than five million tonnes of CO2 through its development projects, while helping to improve the lives of more than 20 million people. This is in sub-Saharan Africa, Central America and South and Southeast Asia.
In fact, many personalities, including the former Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, have taken action to restore the image of this market by establishing a stricter set of rules.
The principle of carbon offsetting is based on the fact that the impacts of one tonne of carbon emitted somewhere can be offset by sequestering or reducing another tonne of carbon elsewhere. Individuals, businesses, or communities can voluntarily offset some or all of the emissions they could not help but emit by purchasing carbon credits that are expressed in TeqCO units2.
Source: Agence Ecofin
Climate Change, Carbon Economy and Co-benefits of Gas Utilization
...Coming Eko Carbon Exchange webinar to link gas utilization with financial, technological leverage
By Innocent E. Azih
Some of the biggest shifts in business and investment is happening in the oil and gas sector, denominated in the clean economic development paradigm. This shift is underpinned by the competitive race for a green global energy transition as pushed and rapidly amplified under a new US-China race for Net-Zero transition. Nigeria cannot be left out of the race, given her huge petroleum, especially gas reserves.
Nigeria’s economy is almost entirely dependent on the petroleum sector. The sector also holds the key factor to low-carbon development in the country through the mitigation pathway. This means that it
“(oil and gas) will continue to determine
Nigeria’s economic performance into the Net-Zero era, depending on how it is continually navigated through the evolving sustainability transition demands.
Nigeria has a proven natural gas reserve of 203.16tr cubic feet as at 2020. It set sights on new target outputs of 210tcf by 2025 and 220tcf by 2030. This presents a product-economy that is acceptable to the low-carbon movement, with a window to deepen the domestic utilization. In an era where the world is moving towards hydrogen as alternative energy source and the UK government is setting up a £20m fund for innovative projects with a target of phasing out the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030, Nigeria needs to rapidly beneficiate the gas resources to build capacity – both financial and technological, in the energy transition period.
“This behooves the
government to create policies that result in technologies being retrofitted for gas input use,
such as the auto gas scheme. This is already paving the pathway to heightened domestic gas consumption.
The price of emission has risen significantly in the carbon market, post-COVID, and currently provides a longterm investment prospect around the world. From its bottomed-out condition in 2007 shuffling to as low as Euro3 per tonne in 2013, it has risen to Euro 23 per tonne in 2019 and only with high financial incentives for emissions reduction. Deepening the domestic gas utilization across consumer belts presents the multiple co-benefits of ensuring low-carbon development, retaining investments in the petroleum sector, and providing incentive payments through carbon offset revenues in the Voluntary Carbon Market. This will lead to a spike in clean technology optimization as introduction of technology retrofits such as green engines, which use gas, will provide increasing income in the carbon market and further increase gas consumption.
marry the opportunities of expanded domestic gas consumption with the emission reduction and revenue scope.
The Eko Carbon Exchange is consequently convoking a webinar to enable stakeholders in the gas value chain mainstream the knowledge that gas utilization is going to provide the financial and technological leverage required for business sustainability.
It also partners key players in the carbon farming such as Amelia Agro Africa, Uganda.
The webinar brings a collaboration with key industry players, from the highest level of policy to investment, development and financial communities of practice as well as consumers of technology and gas resources.
“The Exchange plays the role
of Carbon Aggregator to the Nigerian Gas Expansion Programme.
The Eko Carbon Exchange has been mobilizing the carbon resources of Nigeria from the various sectors of the economy, through the aggregation of emissions avoided or reduced by low-carbon projects, practices and technology. This includes creating education and capacity for emissions management through webinars on solid waste, agricultural sector, renewable energy project, energy efficiency schemes, the construction and building-, and the financial-sector emissions.
discourse that will focus on the co-benefit implications of an emerging era of fully deregulated and optimized use of Nigeria’s gas resources across all sectors.
It comes with extra benefits to drive local goals from global trends in low-carbon economic development in the light of historically-observed shifts in the pattern of energy supply mixes.
race to zero-carbon dynamics as it intensifies and as global regulations put investors on their wits’ end.
On the other hand, as hydrogen position to replace the hardest-toabate emissions, a gas expansion vision catalyzed in terms of emission abatement capacity is key. A convocation to interrogate the opportunities presented by these developments from the perspectives of Policy, Investment, Technology shifts and emission savings and carbon revenue is therefore critical. Join the conversation.
Enyo Commences Rollout Of Solar -Powered Solutions Across Its Retail Stations
Jerome Onoja
As part of its commitment to support the sustainable development goal of improving energy efficiency, leading fuel retailing company, Enyo Retail and Supply Limited has commenced utilization of solar-powered solutions across its retail stations in Nigeria. The introduction of these solutions is also aimed at providing alternative power and clean energy for the environment, as well as improve operations and serve customers better.
Currently, the Enyo station located at Lakowe, Lagos state, is fully operated and powered by solar with 10 more stations under development and a total of 20 stations expected to be powered by solar this year.
‘‘The impact of our solar initiative is that it gives us an opportunity to actively contribute to maintain a healthier and sustainable environment within our local communities”, said Abayomi Awobokun, CEO, Enyo Retail and Supply Limited. ‘’Secondly, the plan is for our stations to function for longer hours because with solar, we don’t have to rely on the national grid or generators. This further gives us more agility, a lot more flexibility and provides more value from an economic point of view’’
With this initiative, the company is encouraging an environmentally friendly solution to boost zero emission of greenhouse gases in Africa. Customers will have more access time to buy fuel, especially during periods where other stations are not operational. Enyo solar- powered solutions are already implemented at its stations not on the national grid and will roll out to all its stations within the next 24 months.
Awobokun also reiterated Enyo’s resolve to partner with Nigerian companies on its project.
‘’We see collaborations as a key driver to solving some of the world’s biggest problems and I am excited that we are working with competent solar energy providers in Nigeria. Innovation is a major focus for us and being able to partner with trusted indigenous companies to deliver this project is something we are proud of”
Enyo seeks to enhance customer effectiveness and raise more awareness to the global consciousness about using clean energy.
Imo Governor Commends Shell for Using Community Contractors for Infrastructure Projects
The Governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodinma, has commended Shell Petroleum Development Company’s (SPDC) commitment to the development of infrastructure and human capital in communities hosting the Assa North Gas Development Project in the state.
The Governor also endorsed the gas project’s Cluster Development Board’s (CDB) employment of community contractors.
Governor Uzodinma spoke recently through the State Commissioner for Environment, Dr. Ikay Njoku, at a ceremony by the CDBs to present cheques to community contractors for the third milestone for the over N360 million social investment projects designed to benefit people of the host communities.
“I commend the Assa North and Ohaji Egbema Cluster Development Boards as well as their community contractors for doing good jobs so far. The Imo State Government will continue to monitor project execution to ensure that contractors do not lower the quality and standard of the jobs. We will have zero tolerance for corruption,”, he said. Chairman of Assa North CDB, Mr. Godswill Uzomba Uho, and his counterpart for the Ohaji/Egbema CDB, Mr. Casmir Ekeruo, pledged to “continue to monitor the community contractors to ensure that the right standards are maintained for their people”.
SPDC’s External Relations Manager, Projects and Opportunities, Dr Banji Adekoya, emphasised “SPDC’s commitment to supporting projects that increase the capacity of our communities to deliver credible projects.”
Adekoya, represented by SPDC’s Community Interface and Social Performance Adviser, Mr. Victor Alimele, said, “The gas development project in Imo State is one of the priority projects of the Federal Government of Nigeria because its development will help the government deliver on its ambition to provide enough gas for domestic consumption, power generation and gas-based ammonia and urea fertilizers for farmers.”
“The Assa North Gas Development Project will be a major game-changer in our country’s quest for energy sufficiency and economic growth and, once again, it emphasizes Shell’s unshaken commitment to Nigeria both now and in the future,” he said.
“The project has the potential to be one of the largest domestic gas projects in the country when completed”, Adekoya added. When completed the Assa North Gas project will produce 600 million standard cubic feet of gas per day (mscf/d) from its upstream facilities and process 300mscf/d from the SPDC gas facility under construction to boost domestic gas supply for power generation and general industrialization.
To benefit the local communities, SPDC has a deliberate Nigerian and Community Content Strategy embedded in the projects’ operations to create vast opportunities for Nigerian firms in Engineering, Procurement and Construction contracts; immense employment and sub-contracting opportunities for workers and local contractors in the project area; as well as opportunities for capacity development initiatives, knowledge transfer and human capital development, Adekoya said.
The Cluster Development Board implements SPDC’s Global Memorandum of Understanding for delivering sustainable development projects in the host communities
SUSTAINABILITY
OMAA Rolls Out First Gas-Powered Buses In Nigeria
(Left to right) Dr. Ishaku Abner, Technical Assistant (Downstream) to the Hon. Minister of State for Petroleum Resources; Mrs Pat Igwebuike, Special Adviser to the Anambra State Governor on Legal Matters; Dr. Mohammed M. Ibrahim, Chairman National Gas Expansion Programme (NGEP) and Chinedu Oguegbu, Founder and CEO, OMAA
An indigenous energy firm, OMAA has rolled out Nigeria’s first locally assembled natural gaspowered buses and are already producing in volumes.
The roll out took place at its facility in Igbo Ukwu near Nnewi, Anambra, in the presence of Dr. Ishaku Abner, Technical Assistant (Downstream) to the Hon. Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Pat Igwebuike, Special Adviser to the Anambra State Governor on Legal Matters and Dr. Mohammed M. Ibrahim, Chairman of the National Gas Expansion Programme (NGEP).
OMAA manufactures factoryfitted dual-fuel vehicles to meet the growing demand of vehicles that run on cleaner energy sources within Nigeria and across Africa. The company showcased its facility and demonstrated its ability to cater to energy demands for the transportation and energy industry with natural gas.
The event is coming on the heels of the Federal Government’s declaration of the decade of gas, a commitment to diversify the economy and see Nigeria develop and commercialize its gas resources.
According to the NNPC, domestic demand for natural gas will rise from current levels of 1.5 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf) to 7.4 Bcf by 2027.
Mr Chinedu Oguegbu, Founder and CEO of OMAA, said at the event “This is the beginning of a trend that will revolutionize not just the transportation industry but the energy industry in Nigeria, by accelerating utilization of the abundant natural gas resources we are endowed with”.
He noted that the buses are rugged and more durable because they are adapted to Nigerian roads; the company is also expanding its network nationwide to ensure quality aftersales and availability of spare parts.
Speaking at the roll-out, Dr Mohamed M. Ibrahim mentioned, “OMAA has been a robust partner of the National Gas Expansion Program and there is no doubt that the company is on track to make a tremendous impact in the energy and transportation industries”
In her remarks, Mrs Pat Igwebuike stated “it is delightful to see such innovative developments take place in Anambra state. With this technology, I believe that OMAA will eventually become a staple brand in the industry”. Taking advantage of the African Union’s latest charter on free trade, Oguegbu noted “with AfCFTA already in force we hope to expand our service beyond Nigerian borders, exploring opportunities in Africa’s 54 countries and 1.2 billion population”.
“Whatever the need for our development and industrialization as a people today, we should be sustainable in our approach and think of the livelihood of future generations.
“Whether we like it or not, climate change is real and the use of gas as a transition fuel reduces the damage done by biomass, not just to the environment but to human health”, he noted.
World Health Organisation (WHO) had recently released a report that showed that 3.8 million people die yearly from illnesses attributed to household pollution arising from inefficient use of solid fuels and kerosene for cooking.
Oguegbu further stated that OMAA was also committed to job creation and in due course will have a phased migration in its operations when it transits from semi-knocked down (SKD) to completely knocked down (CKD) operations. That way, it will be “localizing more components, up-skilling staff and contributing to the burgeoning automotive ecosystem”.
He claimed that, “by switching to CKD, we will end up creating more jobs for the teeming youth population in the country. It is a part of our overall policy where we commit to training and retraining our people. Sourcing components in-country also has a positive impact on the local supply chain as capacity utilization, jobs, value addition all move in the right direction”.
The company plans to introduce within the next year a wider portfolio of solutions to address the energy demand in the residential, commercial and industrial markets, using natural gas.
