Assessment of the Potentials of Solar and Wind Resources for Sustainable Energy Transition in Northern Bauchi State, Nigeria

The study assessed the potentials of solar and wind resources for sustainable energy transition in Northern Bauchi State, Nigeria. The study utilized remotely sensed climatic data of the area for the study. ArcGIS 10.3 was used to perform the geospatial analysis. The software allows mapping the spatial distribution renewable energy resources. Interpolation method (Inverse distance weighted) was adopted to produce maps of the distribution of renewable resources. The study found enormous potentials of solar and low intermittent wind energy in the study area; the result revealed that generally all the nine LGAs of the study area have high solar radiation incidence 6.28-6.48kwh (21.99-22.67 mega joules) daily which is potentially enough generation electricity. It is further revealed that wind speeds in the study area range from 2.1 -2.5m/s. and LGAs like Gamawa, Zaki and Dambam have high wind velocity of between 2.6 and 2.4 m/s which is suitable for generation of electricity. The study concludes that there is enormous potential and availability of renewable energy resources, in particular solar and wind energy, which can be harnessed for small and large-scale electricity generation. The study therefore recommended that the Federal and State Governments as well as Private Companies as the matter of urgency should explore and harnessed the enormous and abundant renewable energy resources. The policymakers and NGOs should pay more attention to provision and installation of the community based off-grid renewable infrastructures such as hybrid solar/wind powered systems.