Arif Aga is a forward-thinking leader with over two and a half decades of experience in the global renewable energy sector. As director of SgurrEnergy, a renowned consulting and engineering company that has delivered over 1000 projects, representing over 160GW of projects in more than 50 countries, he has played a pivotal role in shaping strategies, expanding service offerings, and driving digital transformation across the organisation’s six business verticals— covering energy advisory, design & engineering, project management, grid dynamics, ESG, and quality assurance.
In this interview with Feyishola Jaiyesimi, he talks about some of the limiting factors constraining Nigeria’s renewable energy from upscaling, where he sees the sector in the next five years, and the role his company plays in Africa’s renewable energy transition.
Can you start by introducing SgurrEnergy and explaining its role in advancing renewable energy across Africa?
SgurrEnergy is an independent global renewable energy consultancy providing end-to-end project lifecycle support across solar, wind, hybrid & microgrids, battery energy storage, and power system studies. With over 23 years of experience and delivery across more than 55 countries with a capacity of 185GW globally, our role in Africa has been focused on enabling projects to move from intent to execution, and from construction to long-term, reliable operation.
What are the key factors driving Africa’s renewable energy adoption today, and how has Nigeria specifically positioned itself within this trend?
Across Africa, renewable energy adoption is being driven by a convergence of structural and economic factors. Rapid population growth, rising electricity demand, and the need to improve energy access are placing pressure on conventional generation systems.
Importantly, Nigeria already has experienced electrical, civil, and mechanical contracting capacity, manufacturing bases, and project execution expertise that can be repurposed for renewable energy projects with limited structural adjustment.
What Nigeria has successfully implemented for conventional energy local contracting, supply-chain development, and operational capability can be effectively extended to renewable energy. This creates a pathway for scalable deployment that supports local industry, reduces project costs, and strengthens long-term energy independence while aligning with Africa’s broader clean energy transition.
How has innovation contributed to achieving sustainable energy goals in Nigeria and broader Africa?
Innovation has played a critical role in enabling sustainable energy development across Africa by allowing renewable solutions to adapt to local technical, economic, and infrastructural realities. Rather than relying solely on imported delivery models, innovation has increasingly focused on optimising system design, improving grid integration, and enabling flexible deployment in both grid-connected and decentralised environments.
In Nigeria, this innovation is supported by strong existing foundations. The country already possesses manufacturing capability, skilled engineering talent, and experience in delivering complex infrastructure projects. When combined with modern renewable technologies such as advanced solar module design, hybrid power systems, battery energy storage, and digital performance monitoring, these capabilities allow renewable energy systems to be implemented more efficiently and reliably.
Technology-driven innovation also enables renewables to integrate with existing power infrastructure, rather than requiring entirely new systems. Solutions such as hybridisation with storage, improved forecasting, and modular project execution allow renewable energy to be scaled using familiar contracting and operational frameworks.
As a result, Nigeria is well placed to accelerate renewable adoption not through disruption, but through evolution, using innovation to extend proven industrial and energy practices into a sustainable, future-ready power system.
Why is it crucial to design and plan large-scale renewable energy projects with consideration for local geography, resource potential, and unique regional challenges?
Renewable energy assets are inherently shaped by their local environment. Solar and wind performance, structural design, grid integration, and long-term reliability are all directly influenced by geography, climate, soil conditions, and grid strength.
In Africa, these variables are particularly pronounced. High temperatures, dust, wind loading, hydrological conditions, and weak grid infrastructure can materially affect project performance if not properly addressed at the design stage. Standardised designs often fail to account for these realities, leading to underperformance and higher lifecycle costs.
SgurrEnergy’s experience across projects in Ghana, Angola, Nigeria, Djibouti, South Africa, and other markets demonstrates the importance of early-stage engineering rigour. Detailed feasibility studies, site-specific design, and grid impact assessments are essential to enabling projects to be executed efficiently by local contractors while maintaining international quality standards.
By embedding local conditions into engineering and execution planning, projects can be delivered more cost-effectively, with fewer construction issues and stronger long-term performance critical outcomes as projects scale in size and complexity.
Could you share details on SgurrEnergy’s notable projects across Africa, your current market presence, year-on-year growth, and future expansion plans?
SgurrEnergy has delivered technical advisory and engineering services across more than 6 GW of renewable energy capacity in Africa, supported by its long-standing regional presence, including an operational office in Kenya. The company has worked across the full project lifecycle, spanning feasibility studies, detailed engineering, owner’s engineering, construction monitoring, and independent technical advisory roles.
In West Africa, SgurrEnergy has supported a 100 MW solar PV project in Ghana, multiple 10 MW-scale projects in Sierra Leone, solar and PV-plus-storage projects in Togo and Guinea, and detailed engineering and advisory assignments in the Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso.
In Southern and Central Africa, the portfolio includes detailed engineering for an 86.25 MW solar PV project in South Africa, as well as owner’s engineering for 400 MW and 104 MW solar PV projects in Angola.
In Nigeria, we have also designed in detail a 30MW solar power plant for a steel manufacturing unit and advised on a portfolio of 20 projects with 100MW each capacity, where we supported the client in conducting a detailed feasibility study, including resource assessments, plant layouts, electrical and grid integration design, technology selection, bill of quantities development, and implementation planning.
In East Africa, SgurrEnergy has supported projects in Uganda and Djibouti, including solar PV combined with battery energy storage systems.
Many of these projects are executed using local specialist contractors and locally sourced components, with SgurrEnergy providing independent engineering, technology oversight, and project management. This delivery model has supported steady year-on-year growth as African markets mature.
Looking ahead, expansion will focus on hybrid systems, storage integration, and power system studies, supporting Africa’s transition from capacity-led development to dependable, system-ready renewable energy.
What are the main challenges developers face in scaling renewable energy in Africa, and what practical solutions do you recommend?
Scaling renewable energy across Africa presents a set of interlinked technical, commercial, and execution challenges. Grid readiness remains a primary constraint, with transmission availability, system stability, and interconnection timelines often lagging generation development. In parallel, regulatory complexity, permitting delays, and evolving procurement frameworks can extend project timelines and increase development risk.
Cost pressure is another defining challenge. Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) pricing in several African jurisdictions remains significantly higher than in competitive global markets, in some cases by 15 percent to 20 percent. This is often driven by heavy reliance on imported construction models, exposure to currency volatility, and logistics delays.
Practical solutions lie in stronger upfront engineering, early grid engagement, and delivery models that maximise local execution capability. Using local contractors supported by independent engineering, quality control, and project management can materially reduce costs while improving delivery resilience.
Despite these challenges, what opportunities do you see emerging in Africa’s renewable energy sector?
In several markets, limited or unreliable grid coverage means countries can transition directly to renewable-based generation models without first expanding fossil fuel or nuclear capacity.
From a technical perspective, large-scale renewable projects in Africa do not face unique engineering barriers. Instead, constraints tend to arise from grid availability, evacuation infrastructure, and regulatory processes. This creates a strong opportunity for decentralised energy solutions that are less dependent on national grid expansion.
Microgrids and hybrid systems combining solar, wind, and battery energy storage are particularly well-suited to African conditions. Using round-the-clock (RTC) design concepts, these systems can deliver dependable power to industrial zones, commercial consumers, and remote communities where grid extension is not viable in the near term.
At the utility scale, storage-integrated renewables can unlock additional capacity on constrained grids while improving system stability. Collectively, these models position Africa to adopt renewable energy not as a supplement to conventional power, but as the foundation of its future electricity systems.
How do you view the renewable energy landscape in Nigeria right now, and what changes do you anticipate over the next 5 to 10 years?
Nigeria’s renewable energy market is evolving from early-stage development toward execution and integration. While challenges remain around grid capacity and system stability, there is increasing focus on project quality, hybridisation, and cost efficiency.
A notable shift is the increasing emphasis on technical feasibility, hybridisation, and long-term reliability. Large-scale distributed solar programmes, for instance, now require rigorous site-specific engineering, energy yield modelling, grid connection design, and lifecycle risk assessment well before investment decisions are made.
In our recent work supporting a 2GW distributed solar portfolio in Northern Nigeria, the programme was structured across 20 sites — spanning 19 states and the Federal Capital Territory — with each location designed around a 100MW configuration.
The scope extended well beyond conventional studies to include detailed PVsyst simulations, plant layouts, electrical and grid integration design, technology selection, BoQ development, and implementation planning.
This reflects how Nigerian projects are increasingly being shaped by engineering-led decision frameworks rather than purely capacity targets.
Over the next decade, we expect greater adoption of storage-integrated projects, improved grid planning, and increased use of local execution models. Developers will increasingly rely on independent engineering and project management to ensure that projects delivered locally meet international performance and bankability standards.
This shift will be essential for scaling renewables sustainably in Nigeria’s complex power system.
Looking ahead, what should we expect from SgurrEnergy in Nigeria and Africa over the next 5 to 10 years?
Over the next five to ten years, SgurrEnergy’s focus in Nigeria and across Africa is expected to centre on enabling technically robust, locally grounded renewable energy development models. As renewable projects increase in scale and complexity, greater emphasis is likely to be placed on strong upfront engineering, system integration, and long-term performance assurance rather than short-term capacity delivery alone.
A key direction will be deeper integration of local execution capability. Projects are increasingly expected to be developed using locally sourced materials, domestic manufacturing where available, and local electrical, civil, and mechanical contractors, supported by independent technology selection, design, engineering, and project management oversight. This approach not only reduces exposure to cost escalation and logistics risks but also contributes to skills development and broader socio-economic participation.
SgurrEnergy is also expected to evolve toward that of a long-term technical authority – supporting projects from a complete lifecycle perspective, i.e., from early feasibility, concept design through detailed engineering, construction and operational optimisation. We ensure renewable energy assets are being designed with operational horizons extending well beyond standard 25-year power purchase agreements.
With appropriate engineering, quality control, and maintenance strategies, solar and hybrid projects can remain productive for 40 years or more. Supporting this long-term view of asset performance will remain central to SgurrEnergy’s role in Africa’s evolving energy systems.
