The Director of an oil, gas and energy consultancy firm, Miss Zumunta Machunga-Disu, of JALZ Energy Ltd., last Thursday, urged the Federal Government to take urgent steps to enact a Renewable Energy Act.

Machunga-Disu made the call in an interview with our correspondent in Lagos.

She said that there were lots of funding opportunities open to Nigerians in renewable energy.

Machunga-Disu noted that only increased government investment in renewable energy can help the country to effectively address its deficit in power generation.

The energy expert noted that: “In 2011, Ghana formalised its Renewable Energy Act and that nation has benefited greatly from it, including the creation of about 500 job opportunities.

“The Act in Ghana has also generated close to 100 million dollars in tax,“ the director said.

She argued that with adequate funding and an effective regulatory framework in renewable energy, the Federal Government would be able to raise the level of economic activities in the country.

“It is estimated that Ghana has saved about 5.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide through the implementation of its renewable energy law.

“Nigeria can do much more if it focuses on using its solar, coal and other natural resources as alternative energy sources to supply electricity to the masses,“ the expert said.

Machunga-Disu, however, noted that most investors in renewable energy in the country may not want to ‘‘multiply“ their interests, if the problem of a weak institutional framework and inadequate public funding were not looked into.

She added that a “high risk reduction in our domestic market“ must also be addressed, for the country to gain optimum benefits in renewable energy.