Brown said this during a panel session at the University of Dundee Alumni, Nigeria Chapter seminar held at the weekend in Lagos. The panel session, which dwelt on the topic ‘Optimising energy security in a global transition era’ provided a platform for the panellists to x-ray the current global trajectory of energy transition, and how energy security could be guaranteed in the face of transition, relating the subject to Nigeria’s domestic market situation.
He said: “Seplat Energy remains committed to improving Nigeria’s access to affordable and reliable energy that drives social and economic development, in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. We can make Nigeria a more attractive destination for global energy investment that will allow us to fund our energy transition towards lower-carbon sources of energy, such as gas to provide baseload, and renewables.
“I believe we can achieve all of these development wins for Africa at little incremental cost to the environment.” According to Brown, we must use Nigeria’s gas resources for the direct benefit of Nigerians, and use it to increase production of grid-scale energy that will power people’s homes without choking them on diesel fumes, and allow them to cook without having to collect firewood and have the risk of open fires in the home.
The Seplat Energy CEP described gas as the natural transition fuel that will support a longer-term transition to renewables, saying Seplat Energy is looking at ways to combine gas-fired power generation with solar arrays, so gas can provide the essential baseload overnight.