On Tuesday, the federal government announced that it has begun researching potential in green hydrogen as part of the transition from fossil fuels to cleaner energy. Ekperikpe Ekpo, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), made the announcement at the Federal Ministry of Innovation, Science, and Technology’s Stakeholders’ Engagement on Green Hydrogen Development in Nigeria, held in Abuja.
He is of the opinion that the search of sustainable energy solutions requires an inventive approach, prompting stakeholders to explore unknown territory in green hydrogen production. He stated, “In Nigeria, we have embraced our gas resources as our transition fuel, in line with our vision to declare 2021-2030 as the decade of gas in Nigeria.”
Nigeria is prepared to become an industrialized nation with a gas reserve of 208 trillion cubic feet and is open to investigating hydrogen opportunities as the country is endowed with abundant oil and gas resources. Ekpo remarked that the potential for synergy between conventional and sustainable energy was enormous, and that the country should take the opportunity to diversify its energy portfolio.
The Minister of Innovation, Science, and Technology, Uche Geoffrey, explained the usefulness of green hydrogen, stating that green hydrogen is produced by splitting water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen using power supplied from renewable sources. He also that It has excellent potential to alleviate the negative effects of climate change caused by the discharge of greenhouse gases from fossil fuels into the environment.
Green hydrogen serves as viable and sustainable pathways for alternative energy generation, industrial development, environmentally friendly transport fuel, methanol production, fertiliser production among other economic uses. Geoffrey claimed that the global demand for hydrogen would likely peak at over 700 million metric tons by the year 2050, with annual hydrogen production projected to climb by 9.2% yearly until 2030.
