Sustainably meeting the energy needs of Nigeria: The renewable options

One of the world´s greatest challenges today is sustainable energy production and the increasing effects of global warming. It is even more challenging in developing countries and indications are that the trend may persist for several years. In Nigeria for instance, the situation could best be described as a country that is sustainably rich, yet without power. Research into ways of improving on the available methods of harnessing sustainable energy sources has continued to yield results. In this work, the possibility of meeting the energy needs of Nigeria in a sustainable manner has been explored and presented. Focus is on the vast untapped renewable energy potential of Nigeria and the design of standalone systems that can be tailored to meet the power needs of rural communities and other remote location that are far from the existing grids. From the analysis carried out, it´s obvious that a careful selection of the suitable renewable power system along side with an engineered implementation plan is vital, and if done holistically, then the unmet power needs in rural communities in Nigeria and possibly most developing countries can be effectively addressed in a sustainable manner through either a standalone system or a mix of such systems.