Renewable energy sources acceptability for decentralized energy system in Nigeria: Issues, challenges and prospects

The increasing awareness of environmental concerns, coupled with the need to enhance energy security and alleviate the impacts of climate change, has fast-tracked an intensive exploration of renewable energy technologies. The development has indeed recorded remarkable growth in most developed countries like China, USA, Brazil, and China. However, this is not the same as most developing countries in Africa. This work carried out a comprehensive review of the available Renewable Energy Sources (RES) in Nigeria, assessed its level of utilization, identified the challenges, and suggested effective ways of ensuring the adoption of a decentralized energy system through the use of RES. A critical analysis of public opinions on the acceptability of RES as a decentralized energy system in the country was carried out. The work sampled the opinions of people in the adoption of RES for a decentralized energy system using southwest, Nigeria as a case study. The population involves power stakeholders, rural dwellers, RES experts, and policymakers across the six states of southwest, Nigeria. A well-structured questionnaire was designed to capture nuanced responses on a range of key parameters, including awareness levels, acceptance, and perceived benefits and challenges associated with decentralized renewable energy systems. The research findings (through the use of questionnaires) showed a very low level of awareness and acceptability of RES and provided valuable insights into the potential barriers and possible facilitating conditions for the adoption of renewable energy technologies.