Nigeria suffers from chronic electrical power generation and distribution capacity with concomitant power cuts. The consequence for the nation is severe economic retardation. In response to this situation Capital CRM (Nigeria) established an investment fund with the purpose of providing project finance and participation in the development of carbon neutral energy systems for the generation of electrical power in Nigeria. As an integral part of their market research programme, Cairns ICL was appointed by CRM to carry out a feasibility study on Alternative Carbon Neutral Energy Systems (ACNES).  

The terms of reference for the ACNES study were to determine feasible business models for supplying the Nigerian grid and off-grid with electricity power generation, with respect to wind, solar, geothermal, and marine energy and to determine critical geographic areas of power deficiency in Nigeria. It became immediately clear that wind generation in Nigeria was a non starter. The study proposed effective means of addressing grid and generation problems in target areas and presented feasible investment propositions for consideration. Models were prepared using parameters for solar thermal and solar photovoltaic systems. In addition, an independent sensitivity testing was undertaken to confirm the integrity of the outcomes.