COAL POWER UTILIZATION AS AN ENERGY MIX OPTION FOR NIGERIA: A REVIEW

Abstract

This work reviews the impact of coal energy utilization as a viable energy mix option for Nigeria. Adequate power supply is unavoidably a prerequisite for any nation’s growth and development. Electric power drives industrialization, which improves communication, helps innovation in science and technology, provides sound healthcare delivery system and generally improves the standard of living of citizens. Nigeria’s economy face growing challenges: a widening trade imbalance, growing competition from developed countries, a collapse of big manufacturing companies, and a sharp increase in the cost of doing business, all owing basically to energy and its related infrastructural costs. Recent years have seen government’s desire to increase electricity generation through the utilization of its abundant coal deposits but the challenges are still not surmounted. These challenges and recommendations on the way to overcome them are also highlighted. It is the issue of “getting it right the first time” that this work emphasizes hence it is among the short range reviews of the energy problem in Nigeria.