Precious Anga
Lagos — The Rural Electrification Agency, REA, has completed solar power projects in 15 universities across Nigeria, providing the institutions with stable electricity as part of the Federal Government’s efforts to expand access to reliable power through renewable energy.
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the agency, Abba Aliyu, disclosed this during an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, stating that the beneficiary institutions are now fully connected to dedicated solar farms under the agency’s clean energy intervention programme.
“We also have completed our interventions in the universities where we completed 15 universities as of today. All these universities now are fully connected with the solar farms,” Aliyu said.
He explained that the university projects form part of the Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up, DARES, programme, a flagship initiative designed to accelerate electricity access across the country using renewable energy technologies.
According to Aliyu, DARES is currently the largest publicly funded renewable energy access project in the world and is expected to provide electricity to approximately 17.5 million Nigerians, while driving greater private-sector investment in the country’s off-grid electricity market.
The REA boss said the agency has significantly expanded mini-grid deployment nationwide, revealing that more than 1,000 mini-grids are currently being rolled out to improve electricity supply in communities beyond the reach of the national grid.
“Today, for the first time in the country, we are deploying more than 1,000 mini-grids nationwide. These include isolated mini-grids, while we have also been aggressive in the deployment of interconnected mini-grids,” he said.
Aliyu disclosed that the agency is implementing 48 interconnected mini-grid projects in partnership with electricity distribution companies (DisCos) to improve power supply in underserved areas, adding that construction timelines have been streamlined to ensure faster project delivery.
“We have been moving around the country conducting groundbreaking ceremonies and setting deployment targets of between six and eight months for all the interconnected mini-grids,” he added.
Beyond infrastructure deployment, Aliyu said the REA has secured stronger financial sector participation to accelerate renewable energy investments, noting that several Nigerian banks have entered into financing agreements with the agency.
“We have convinced a number of Nigerian banks to support the sector, and we have signed several memoranda of understanding covering equipment financing, debt financing and bridge financing for private-sector operators,” he stated.
He further disclosed that the agency has completed Nigeria’s first nationwide electricity access mapping exercise, identifying more than 750,000 communities across the country to guide future renewable energy investments and improve planning for electricity expansion.
The mapping exercise, he said, will enable the agency and its development partners to target communities with the greatest electricity deficits while supporting the Federal Government’s objective of expanding reliable, affordable and sustainable electricity access across Nigeria through renewable energy solutions.
