BEYOND GENSETS: ADVANCING THE ENERGY TRANSITION IN LAGOS STATE

The 'Beyond Gensets' report by Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) provides a comprehensive audit of fossil fuel generator sets (gensets) in Lagos State, Nigeria. It establishes a baseline of genset capacity, fuel consumption, and emissions across residential, commercial, and market sectors to inform a state-wide displacement programme in favour of distributed solar PV (DPV). The study highlights a massive reliance on self-generation due to grid unreliability and identifies high upfront capital costs as the primary barrier to solar adoption.

• Lagos State has an estimated total genset capacity of approximately 19 GW, which significantly exceeds the entire national grid's installed capacity of 12.2 GW and the average available generation capacity of 4.2 GW.
• The annual environmental impact of genset usage in Lagos is profound, with total estimated emissions of around 39 million tons of CO2 equivalent (tCO2e), a figure nearly four times the total emissions of countries such as Togo, Rwanda, or Gabon.
• In the residential sector, approximately 72% of households own at least one genset, with a total estimated capacity of 8.8 GW and an annual fuel consumption of 9 billion litres.
• Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) show a very high reliance on gensets, with approximately 94% owning at least one. This sector has an estimated genset capacity of 10.4 GW and consumes 6.6 billion litres of fuel annually.
• Lagos markets are estimated to have 13,704 generators with a total capacity of 192 MW, consuming approximately 61 million litres of fuel annually.
• High upfront capital expenditure is the primary barrier to solar adoption. While solar PV is 10 to 15 times more expensive than petrol gensets in terms of initial installation, it is only 20% pricier over a 10-year total cost of ownership period.
• Grid unreliability is the dominant driver for genset ownership; 91% of MSMEs cited grid reliability and power quality as their motivation for purchasing a generator.
• There is strong interest in transitioning to solar power, with 75% of households and 64% of MSMEs expressing interest, yet actual current usage remains very low at 2% for households and 3% for MSMEs.
• The study suggests different displacement strategies by sector: standardized bulk procurement for households and market shops, centralized solar solutions for markets, and tailored energy audits and results-based financing (RBF) for MSMEs.

APA

Sustainable Energy for All (2024). BEYOND GENSETS: ADVANCING THE ENERGY TRANSITION IN LAGOS STATE. https://www.seforall.org/system/files/2024-10/SEforALL%20Beyond%20Gensets%20LASG%20Extended-final.pdf

Chicago

Sustainable Energy for All. BEYOND GENSETS: ADVANCING THE ENERGY TRANSITION IN LAGOS STATE. 2024. https://www.seforall.org/system/files/2024-10/SEforALL%20Beyond%20Gensets%20LASG%20Extended-final.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Sustainable Energy for All |title=BEYOND GENSETS: ADVANCING THE ENERGY TRANSITION IN LAGOS STATE |date=October 2024 |url=https://www.seforall.org/system/files/2024-10/SEforALL%20Beyond%20Gensets%20LASG%20Extended-final.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{sustainableenergyforall2024beyond, author = {{Sustainable Energy for All}}, title = {{BEYOND GENSETS: ADVANCING THE ENERGY TRANSITION IN LAGOS STATE}}, institution = {Sustainable Energy for All}, year = {2024}, month = oct, url = {https://www.seforall.org/system/files/2024-10/SEforALL%20Beyond%20Gensets%20LASG%20Extended-final.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }