Vice President Kashim Shettima says building human capital in hydrogen technologies is critical to the viability of a hydrogen economy in the country.
He said this at the first Nigeria Conference on Hydrogen with the theme: ‘Building a Hydrogen Economy for Nigeria’ in Abuja on Tuesday.
The Vice President who was represented by the Special Adviser to the President on Power Infrastructure in the Office of the VP, Sadiq Wanka, said developing pilot programmes across different applications would be a key step in building the in-country expertise to tap into the vast global hydrogen economy.
Shettima said regional collaboration with other countries in the sub-region and the continent on the adoption of hydrogen would support its viability domestically.
The VP said collaborations with development partners and other countries more advanced in their hydrogen journey was also important to ensure knowledge transfer.
“The investments required in building the infrastructure for hydrogen transport and storage are vast and can only be driven by the private sector.
“Building our vast natural gas pipelines with future hydrogen transport in mind will significantly reduce these costs and help to attract capital,” Shettima said.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, said the country, as Africa’s largest economy and most populous nation, had an energy demand that was expected to double by 2050.
He said the country was positioning itself to become a key player in the global hydrogen economy.
According to him, this is not just an ambition, it is a strategic imperative that is aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
The minister said that harnessing the country’s resources to produce green hydrogen could play a significant role in reducing emissions and supporting decarbonisation of sectors such as transport, power generation, and heavy industry.
Ekpo said the country had committed to achieving net-zero emissions under the Paris Agreement.
”Hydrogen particularly green hydrogen produced using our abundant renewable energy resources, and blue hydrogen leveraging our natural gas reserves with carbon capture presents a unique opportunity to bridge these seemingly competing objectives.
”Our natural gas reserves of 206 trillion cubic feet position us perfectly for blue hydrogen production. Our significant solar potential, with about 2,000 hours of sunshine annually, provides an ideal foundation for green hydrogen,” he said.
Tajudeen Abbas, the Speaker, House of Representatives, said the country needed to embrace hydrogen to diversify her energy sources and create jobs.
Abbas, represented by Rep. Victor Obuzo, said that hydrogen adoption would help decarbonise the economy while ensuring energy security.
He called for firm regulatory frameworks to create safe hydrogen.
The speaker said the House was committed to deploying necessary legislative frameworks to support the hydrogen transition initiative.
The Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Chief Uche Nnaji, said that achieving a hydrogen enabled future required a collaborative effort.
Nnaji called on various stakeholders to support the efforts of the country toward achieving the initiative.
