Beyond the Turbines: What Katsina and Egypt Tell Nigeria About Renewable Energy

By Aisha Haruna

Nigeria’s experience with its first utility-scale wind farm offers a warning about what can happen when renewable-energy projects are treated as infrastructure projects rather than parts of a wider energy and industrial system.

In Katsina, a 10-megawatt wind farm took years to reach commissioning and later became the subject of another government effort to restore and sustain the facility.

Egypt, meanwhile, is pursuing a different proposition: a 2,000MW wind project linked to a proposed wind-turbine manufacturing plant and a broader effort to localise renewable-energy technology.

The comparison, however, is not between a proven Egyptian success and a Nigerian failure.

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Egypt’s project is still an emerging initiative. The Egyptian government has presented it as a means of localising technology, increasing local content, transferring expertise and reducing pressure on foreign exchange. Those ambitions have yet to be fully tested.

Katsina, too, is more complicated than a simple story of an abandoned wind farm. The project reached an advanced stage, was test-run and was presented by the Federal Government in 2021 as ready for commissioning. But subsequent difficulties exposed the difference between completing infrastructure and creating a power asset capable of operating reliably over the long term.

That difference may be the most important lesson for Nigeria as it seeks to expand renewable energy.

When Building Isn’t Enough

The 10MW Katsina Wind Farm at Lambar Rimi was conceived as one of Nigeria’s early attempts at utility-scale wind generation. The project consists of 37 wind turbines rated at 275 kilowatts each, together with transformers, a supervisory control and data acquisition system and transmission infrastructure designed to evacuate electricity to the national grid.

It began in 2005 as a state project under the administration of then-Katsina State Governor Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and was taken over by the Federal Government in 2007.

The Federal Government subsequently awarded the project to French wind-turbine manufacturer Vergnet S.A., with Crown Resources and Development Company (CREDCO) Nigeria Limited as the local partner.

According to Dr Hafeez Ibrahim, Special Adviser to the Katsina State Governor on Power and Energy, Nigerian personnel associated with CREDCO were taken to France for training.

“They took those people that were working with CREDCO, they took them to France, and then they trained them,” Ibrahim said. “They came back, and they started the project together.”

But the project encountered repeated difficulties. Ibrahim said Vergnet declared force majeure in 2012 and withdrew from the project.

“They declared force majeure in 2012, and they left,” he said.

The project was subsequently re-engaged through CREDCO. Ibrahim said a progress report later indicated that it was ready for commissioning, with 2015 set as a target.

“Unfortunately, it never happened,” he said.

In March 2021, the Federal Government announced that the 37 turbines were functioning and that the 10MW facility was ready for commissioning after years of delays. But subsequent records pointed to unsuccessful commissioning attempts, security problems and damage to equipment.

By 2024, the Katsina State Government was seeking to work with the original equipment manufacturer and other technical partners to rehabilitate the facility.

The experience demonstrates why a renewable-energy project cannot be judged simply by whether its turbines have been installed.

Dr Iro Danbatta, a renewable energy expert, said the Katsina experience offered a broader lesson for Nigeria.

“The Katsina experience gives us an important lesson: a power project must be treated as an entire value chain, from financing and construction to the grid connection, revenue collection and, most importantly, maintenance.”

For future projects, he said, those issues should be addressed before construction begins.

“Otherwise, we may succeed in building a plant but struggle to achieve reliable electricity generation from it,” Danbatta said.

The challenge, therefore, is not simply building renewable infrastructure. It is creating the financial, technical and institutional conditions that allow it to operate sustainably.

The People Living Beside The Turbines

The other measure of a renewable-energy project is what happens to the communities that host it.

Salisu Dan-Juma Lambare, a resident of Tudor Qadir, said he had seen little benefit from the wind farm.

“I personally have not seen any benefit that we have gained from it. Honestly, nothing,” he said.

He said electricity remained unreliable despite the project’s proximity.

“Whenever electricity comes, we can go for up to three weeks without getting it again,” he said.

Lambare also said some residents were displaced from farmland they depended on for food and income.

“People have been displaced from their farmlands, which they depended on for food. They were given some money, but it did not benefit them much,” he said.

“We saw it being established and were told that something beneficial would come from it, but we have not seen that.”

These claims could not be independently verified from the interview and should be put to the relevant project authorities.

Another resident, Kabiru Abdullahi of Rimi Ward, gave a somewhat different account. He said the community had not benefited from electricity because, in his understanding, the project had not been completed for use by residents.

But he acknowledged that some temporary employment had been created.

“For example, there has been work around the project site, including the construction of fences around the area. Some young people have been given temporary jobs through these activities,” he said.

The accounts are not identical. But they highlight a question that can disappear inside national energy statistics: what does the community actually gain from hosting renewable infrastructure?

For future projects, employment, local procurement, technical training and community development may matter as much to public acceptance as the promise of electricity.

Katsina Tries Again

The current Katsina administration is approaching the state’s energy challenge more broadly.

Ibrahim said the state developed an Integrated Resource Plan with Power Africa, funded by USAID, to assess its energy needs and identify potential solutions.

The strategy includes wind, solar, hydro, battery storage and green hydrogen.

Rather than relying entirely on the troubled wind farm, the state is pursuing a more diversified energy portfolio.

Ibrahim said the state had approached the original equipment manufacturer and held meetings in France to determine what would be required to rehabilitate the wind facility.

“We met in France, Paris, for the first time, and then second time, we went to their manufacturing facility in Reims,” he said.

The state subsequently asked the manufacturer to conduct a fresh assessment of the turbines.

“His Excellency committed himself then to say, ‘We’ll invite you down to Nigeria. Come and conduct this assessment, tell us what is needed for this to be completed, and we will complete it,’” Ibrahim said.

But technology had changed significantly since the turbines were installed, while questions remained around technical support, spare parts and long-term maintenance.

The state is also developing new solar capacity. Ibrahim said approval had been given for a 10MW solar project at Lambar Rimi intended to complement the wind facility.

“As I speak to you right now, under the leadership of Malam Dikko Umar Radda, he has already granted approval for us to move to site and install 10 megawatts at Lambar Rimi solar,” he said.

He said the project was expected to begin providing electricity before the end of 2026.

Katsina’s response suggests that renewable energy may be more effective when different technologies are planned as part of a broader energy system rather than relying on one large project.

Egypt’s Emerging Proposition

It is against this background that Egypt becomes relevant to Nigeria.

In June 2026, the Egyptian government announced a memorandum of understanding with China’s SANY Renewable Energy, the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company and the New and Renewable Energy Authority for a 2,000MW wind project in the Gulf of Suez alongside Egypt’s first wind-turbine manufacturing plant.

The project is being positioned as more than a power-generation investment.

The Egyptian government says it is intended to support local manufacturing, technology transfer and exports while reducing foreign-exchange pressure.

That makes the initiative relevant to Nigeria, where renewable-energy development is also constrained by foreign-exchange exposure and dependence on imported equipment.

But Egypt should not be presented as a finished model.

The 2,000MW project and manufacturing facility still have to demonstrate that they can be implemented on schedule, produce competitively priced equipment and create the industrial capabilities being promised.

For Nigeria, the value is therefore in examining the structure of the approach rather than simply copying its scale.

The question is not whether Nigeria should immediately build a 2,000MW wind farm. It is whether renewable projects can create enough predictable demand to support local businesses, technical skills, manufacturing and private investment.

Local Manufacturing: Start Realistically

Danbatta believes Nigeria should approach local manufacturing in stages rather than attempt to produce every component of renewable-energy equipment immediately.

“We should not immediately try to jump into manufacturing every component of a wind turbine or a solar system locally.”

For solar, he identified mounting structures, electrical components, cables, control systems and batteries as areas where Nigeria could begin building capacity, with solar-panel assembly potentially developing later.

For wind, he said the country could initially focus on civil works, electrical works, maintenance, spare-parts support and technical training.

The objective should be to build capability alongside actual projects.

“Local manufacturing is achievable, but I believe it should be a phased industrial strategy that should be supported by demand from actual projects, rather than manufacturing for its own sake.”

That approach also reflects the Katsina experience.

The original project involved a Nigerian partner and training for Nigerian personnel. Yet years later, the state faced the challenge of finding technical capacity capable of supporting ageing turbines.

Local content therefore needs to go beyond participation during construction. It should include engineering, installation, operations, maintenance, spare parts and assembly, before gradually moving into more sophisticated manufacturing.

Danbatta also stressed the importance of human capital.

“Universities, technical colleges, and industries need to work together to train engineers, technicians and other professionals who can design, install, operate and maintain a renewable-energy system,” he said.

The objective is to create an industry around renewable energy rather than simply a larger market for imported equipment.

Finance, Investors And The Market

Renewable-energy projects require substantial upfront capital, and financing costs can have a major impact on the final price of electricity.

Nigeria also faces significant foreign-exchange risk. A project that earns revenue in naira but has substantial dollar-denominated obligations can become more expensive to finance when the naira depreciates.

Egypt’s exploration of local-currency financing is therefore worth examining, although domestic borrowing is not automatically cheaper.

For Danbatta, the broader issue is whether investors can understand and price the risks.

“Investors need three things basically. One is certainty, second is bankability, and third is confidence.”

Certainty means clear rules around tariffs, licensing and market arrangements.

Bankability means investors need confidence that the electricity produced will be purchased and payments made under credible contractual arrangements.

“This is where strong power purchase agreements, appropriate guarantees and effective market settlement mechanisms become very important,” he said.

Confidence, meanwhile, depends on the broader electricity market.

“The market must be progressively improved its liquidity, transparency and payment discipline,” Danbatta said.

This is ultimately what Nigeria needs to address if it wants more private capital.

“Nigeria does not necessarily lack investors,” Danbatta said. “What we need is a market structure that allows serious investors to look at the project and say, ‘Yes, I understand the risk, I understand the revenue model, and I can confidently recover my investment.’”

Private investment will not automatically guarantee successful projects. But clear contractual responsibility, predictable regulation and credible payment mechanisms can make it easier for serious investors to assess risk and commit capital.

The Grid Cannot Be An Afterthought

No renewable-energy strategy can succeed if electricity cannot be moved from where it is generated to where it is needed.

Nigeria therefore needs to plan transmission and distribution alongside new renewable generation.

“There is little benefit in building a large renewable plant if the transmission and distribution infrastructure cannot evacuate and deliver the power,” Danbatta said.

The challenge is particularly important for wind and solar because their output varies with weather conditions.

As renewable generation expands, Nigeria will need adequate transmission capacity, grid flexibility and, where appropriate, storage and other balancing resources.

Projects should also be developed around available resources and actual demand.

“Renewable energy should be connected to areas where the power can actually be evacuated and utilised,” Danbatta said.

The lesson is simple: installed capacity is not the same thing as electricity delivered to consumers.

What Nigeria Can Realistically Learn

Egypt is not a perfect model for Nigeria. Its electricity market, geography, institutions and financing conditions are different, while its 2,000MW wind project remains an emerging initiative.

But its direction raises an important possibility: renewable energy can be developed not only as a source of electricity but as part of a broader industrial strategy.

For Nigeria, the lessons are relatively clear.

Renewable projects must be commercially bankable before construction begins. Grid infrastructure must be planned alongside generation. Local manufacturing should be phased, beginning with areas where Nigerian companies can realistically compete. Private investors need regulatory certainty, credible contracts and confidence in payment. And communities hosting renewable infrastructure need tangible economic benefits.

Danbatta said the broader lesson was that renewable energy required long-term planning and execution rather than ambition alone.

“The biggest lesson is that renewable energy requires long-term planning and strong execution, not just ambition.”

He said every renewable-energy project should also contribute to building Nigerian technical and industrial capacity.

“Every renewable-energy project should be a project that will contribute to developing Nigerian engineers, Nigerian technicians, our contractors and our businesses as well.”

That is the point where Katsina and Egypt converge.

Katsina demonstrates what can happen when physical infrastructure exists without all the conditions required for long-term sustainability being firmly in place.

Egypt’s emerging strategy suggests what could happen when generation, manufacturing, technology transfer and investment are considered together but its own model still has to prove itself.

Nigeria does not need to choose between the two.

It needs to learn from both.

The next generation of renewable-energy projects should therefore be judged by more than the number of turbines or solar panels installed.

The questions should be: Who will finance them? Who will maintain them? How will the electricity reach consumers? What can Nigeria manufacture? What skills will be created? And what will communities gain?

Those are not separate issues. They are parts of the same project.

The Katsina wind farm was built to demonstrate that Nigeria could harness the wind.

The next generation of renewable projects will have to demonstrate something harder: that Nigeria can build a sustainable energy ecosystem around it.