Energy Transition: Nigeria Requires Green Hydrogen Investments – Osinbajo

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo says Nigeria, as a nation, needs to consider investments in Green Hydrogen in view of energy transition.
Osinbajo made the call while unveiling a book titled “Understanding Natural Gas: A Nigerian Perspective” on Thursday in Abuja.
The Vice President urged the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) to take into account investments in green hydrogen for clean energy.
The Tide’s source reports that the book with 12 chapters is authored and Co-authored by Dr David Ige and Mr Dapo Akinosun (SAN), respectively, and reviewed by Mr Bello Rabiu and Mr Osten Olorunsola.
The source reports that global demand for green hydrogen, which is an alternative low carbon energy, is anticipated to increase by 700 per cent by 2050.
Osinbajo said already there were a lot of talks about green hydrogen in particular, which required natural gas to produce, adding that its huge investments were being taken advantage globally.
“So we, as a nation, ought to be thinking in terms of this greener gas. I believe that investments in hydrogen is something we should take seriously. I am sure that NNPC Ltd will take that into account as we plan for the future.
“We must embrace the opportunity to harness our vast natural gas resources responsibly and judiciously, and while simultaneously chatting a path towards a cleaner and greener future”, he said.
The Vice President also called for a faithful implementation of an energy transition plan which involved decade of gas proposals.
“Nigeria’s energy transition plan attempts to chart a pathway forward because we see solar and renewable energy as the bedrock of that plan.
“And the plan is to develop about 250 gigawatts of solar plants by 2060, which is when we intend to achieve the Net 0.
“The plan also outlines our decarbonisation strategies in the area of power, oil and gas and transportation.
“But it also seeks to mitigate against the possible long-term job losses in oil and gas sector in particular, because this is an industry that has dominated our economy for decades”, he said.
He said due to global geopolitics, especially Russian-Ukraine war, gas prices skyrocketed and countries were forced to confront the vulnerabilities of their own energy supply strategists giving rise to urgent calls for re-evaluation and diversification.
He, however, commended the authors of the book, which he described as one of the few technical texts that had a strong policy and legal perspective towards gas utilisation.
In a remark, the authour, Dr David Ige, CEO of Gas Invest Limited, a natural gas consulting and investment company, said his personal sojourn in natural gas started 18 years ago.
Ige, former Group Executive Director – Gas and Power at the old NNPC, recalled that there was little or no data on gas at that time but realised as he advanced that the solutions being proposed for gas were inconsistent with the scale of demand in gas.
He said his key drivers and sources of  inspiration were his policy work on gas master plan at NNPC, teachings in the universities, quest for holistic approach to gas, infrastructure, commercial framework, among others.
He commended the co-author for ensuring that the content of the book was adopted for its relevance to legal practitioners, particularly the young players who would be entering the natural gas for the first time and industry professionals.