BusinessDay 26 Feb 2018
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong><br />
32 BUSINESS DAY<br />
C002D5556<br />
FEATURE<br />
Investigation: Nigeria’s solar energy revolution<br />
stirs toxic battery waste management concern<br />
How to manage toxic used lead acid battery waste appears to be a downside to the current momentum solar<br />
energy is gathering in Nigeria, unless operators commit to responsible behaviour, writes ISAAC ANYAOGU.<br />
Every year, Blue Camel Energy, one of<br />
the biggest solar operators in Nigeria<br />
generates over 6,000 units of used<br />
lead acid batteries (ULABs). Many<br />
of these end up in the hands of local<br />
recyclers in Apo market, Abuja who break it<br />
open to extract lead inglots for exports.<br />
There are over a dozen serious solar companies<br />
in Nigeria handling big ticket projects<br />
including bank ATMs, solar street lights, mini<br />
grids in rural areas and solar home systems in<br />
major cities. While there are two kinds of batteries:<br />
lithium and lead acid batteries, the latter,<br />
more toxic, is also the most commonly used by<br />
these operators.<br />
Over 70 million Nigerians do not have access<br />
to grid power; this means that for many<br />
living in off-grid communities, renewable<br />
energy, mostly solar, would be their only hope<br />
for power.<br />
Operators are rising to the challenge according<br />
to my discovery in recent visit to states<br />
in Kaduna, Abuja, Anambra and Ogun states.<br />
Thousands of people living in communities<br />
where the national grid has not reached are<br />
enjoying between five and ten hours of electricity<br />
daily mostly through solar solutions<br />
including mini grids and solar home systems.<br />
Even in major cities of Lagos and Abuja, companies<br />
like Lumos and Arnergy Solar Ltd are<br />
providing solar home system solution which<br />
is helping underserved communities augment<br />
grid power.<br />
The United Nations Sustainable Development<br />
goal 7 ‘Affordable and Clean Energy’<br />
encourages the adoption of renewables mostly<br />
solar PVs and mini grids as the quickest route to<br />
clean energy access for over 1.2 billion people<br />
without access to electricity globally, of which<br />
over 600million are from Sub Saharan Africa.<br />
Organisations like United States Africa<br />
Development Foundation (USADF) and Shellseeded,<br />
All On, are providing seed capital and<br />
grants for development of mini grids in Nigeria.<br />
In Lagos, Asteven has opened an academy to<br />
train installers and in Abuja, the distribution<br />
company Abuja Electric, is even powering an<br />
office in Gwarinpa with solar PVs. True, Nigeria’s<br />
solar energy market has not approached<br />
the size and sophistication of the East African<br />
markets, but it is roaring to go. A viable mobile<br />
money solution keeps getting in the way.<br />
However, batteries are one of the most<br />
important components of this revolution but<br />
not many operators consider the end-of-life<br />
issues for these batteries, which is regarded as<br />
hazardous waste.<br />
The quantity of used lead acid batteries<br />
currently generated in Nigeria is massive. A<br />
2016 study by Recycling and Economic Development<br />
Initiative of Nigeria (REDDIN), a<br />
non-governmental organisation (NGO), found<br />
that approximately 110,300 tons of used lead<br />
acid batteries are generated in Nigeria annually.<br />
When the figures for solar operators are<br />
included, it comes to over 500,000 tons annually,<br />
says Terseer Ugbo, who leads the NGO,<br />
citing research by other institutions.<br />
Environmental-wise, this is a ticking timebomb<br />
unless operators commit to responsible<br />
management. This is important because, UL-<br />
ABs projected to be generated from solar energy<br />
will triple those from the transport sector. Solar<br />
energy is the future, and Nigeria’s ambition to<br />
generate 30% of its power from renewables by<br />
2030 is projected to further increase the volume<br />
of used batteries that would be generated in<br />
the country.<br />
However, I found serious gaps in the knowledge<br />
of responsible management of ULABs by<br />
solar operators in Nigeria during a month-long<br />
investigation on the issue. The Extended Producer<br />
Responsibility (EPR) concept, a guide to<br />
sound environmental management of ULABs,<br />
has also not caught on.<br />
Traditionally, the bulk of ULABs generated<br />
in Nigeria largely come from passenger cars,<br />
motorcycles and trucks. There is a crude collection<br />
system in place that involves auto mechanics,<br />
scrap engine dealers paying between<br />
N5-N7,000 each for a used lead acid battery in<br />
Lagos, Oyo, Anambra, Ogun, Kano, Kaduna and<br />
Abuja. These batteries are moved in trucks and<br />
containers to Lagos where they are exported to<br />
China and India after the used batteries have<br />
been drained of acid and the lead extracted in<br />
crude recycling processes.<br />
Major ULABs dealers collect over 1,200 tons<br />
monthly in their respective regions. In Lagos<br />
where the market is the most active, itinerant<br />
collectors rely on local battery retail outlets who<br />
buy from individuals who wish to exchange<br />
their old batteries for new ones. They also buy<br />
from scrap yards dealers and mechanic villages.<br />
Like Ndubuisi Umeh, the managing director<br />
of Endy Henry Nigeria Ltd based in a scrap<br />
market in Obosi Anambra state, visited during<br />
the investigation for this story. Umeh, the biggest<br />
operator in the market, has informal networks<br />
in mechanic workshops around Enugu,<br />
Anambra, Abia and Imo states that bring him<br />
condemned batteries.<br />
“I have boys who go out and collect these<br />
batteries for me from shops that sell new batteries,”<br />
he said sitting in a tawdry shop in Obosi<br />
scrap market, heavy with the pungent smell of<br />
batteries shorn of acid, surrounded by workers<br />
stacking batteries in a heap.<br />
Though volumes are still low, solar operators<br />
in Nigeria dispose of their batteries<br />
following this pattern. “We don’t generate<br />
much battery because they basically belong<br />
to our clients that we have installed for,” says<br />
Bolade Soremekun, CEO of Rubitec Solar who<br />
just commissioned a N200m solar hybrid mini<br />
grid in Ogun state<br />
Soremekun further said, “We sell them to<br />
people who buy used batteries and we think<br />
they sell locally or by export to recyclers. We<br />
don’t worry about this much, that is why we<br />
sell to these people.”<br />
Ernest Akale, CEO of Electric City Energy<br />
Ltd, who recently handled a solar street project for the<br />
Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) said, “What<br />
we generated on a monthly rate of 10-15 pieces of UL-<br />
ABs, sometimes we have some recycling companies<br />
who pick them up and sometimes our engineers sell<br />
to local vendors for between N12,000 and N15,000. In<br />
terms of what they do with it, I don’t know.”<br />
This is the current, standard practice for many<br />
operators in the sector.<br />
The danger<br />
Lead-acid batteries contain sulphuric acid and<br />
large amounts of lead. The acid is extremely corrosive,<br />
and a good carrier for soluble lead and lead<br />
particulate. Lead is a highly toxic metal that produces<br />
a range of adverse health effects particularly in young<br />
children, including cardiovascular, neurological and<br />
gastrointestinal diseases like anaemia, and mental<br />
retardation.<br />
Experts say long term exposure can result in<br />
cancer, brain and kidney damage in human. Further<br />
dangers include hearing impairment and it can affect<br />
children’s cognitive development. I cannot be sure if<br />
that is why I had practically scream at battery dealers<br />
in Onitsha before they can hear me – but then again<br />
it could easily have been the result of the organised<br />
chaos in the rowdy market.<br />
The danger this time is not solely from poorly<br />
equipped primary battery recycling sites, as a clampdown<br />
by the Lagos state government is sending many<br />
out of the business of crude recycling, it is from collectors<br />
draining acid into the ground which can contaminate<br />
water sources, endangering human health.<br />
The market is moving towards collection of used<br />
battery rather than recycling and the growth of the<br />
solar energy industry means that operators will<br />
generate more ULABs, which would constitute more<br />
environmental challenges.<br />
ULABs from the bourgeoning solar industry are<br />
projected to eclipse the automobile sector. For every<br />
6 kW solar PV installations about 8 units of batteries<br />
(400 Amp, 48 V) are needed. For urban apartments<br />
about 24 batteries are needed, for rural households<br />
about 1-4, depending on the energy consumption