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Tag: The Rural Electrification Agency (REA)

  • REA to deploy solar farms to correctional centres

    REA to deploy solar farms to correctional centres

    The Rural Electrification Agency (REA) yesterday vowed to deploy mini-grids to Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS) formations starting from the head office to states

    The Managing Director, Engr. Abba Aliyu broke the news in Abuja while signing Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) with key stakeholders from 13 different agencies for the deployment of renewable energy.

    According to him, the motive is to deploy renewable energy to communities that are always left out infrastructure distribution in the country.

     His words: “We will speak about the deployment of a solar farm in our correctional service areas. We will also speak about the exchange of information and data between different government agencies.

    “ I really would like to once again thank the Comptroller General of the Correctional Service for his proactive approach and I would assure you that Rural Electrification Agency in the next round of deployment of mini-grids, the correctional services will be included.

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     “We will start with the head office in Abuja and we will now spread across the other states. Those communities that often neglected, those communities that we often not factored in all the deployment of infrastructure in the country.”

    The Nigerian Correctional Centre, Barton Heyman, Nigeria Incentive – Based Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NISAL); African Energy Council; and Gem Africasigned the MoU.

    The other five that sign signed the MoU were Grey Sak Ltd; Energy Grid Solution; COOD CRL; PVG Solar Auxano; Tranos; Esodora Ltd; and Suntisolar.

  • 86m Nigerians to benefit from renewable energy project

    86m Nigerians to benefit from renewable energy project

    REA turns areas without electricity to renewable energy hub

    The Rural Electrification Agency (REA) has promised to make the areas where 86 million Nigerians live without electricity the renewable energy hub of West Africa.

    REA’s Managing Director Abba Aliyu made the promise during the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the agency and 10 Renewable Energy Service Companies (RESCOs).

    The agency boss noted while several people see the lack of access to electricity as a challenge, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has taken it as an opportunity for economic growth.

    He said: “That clear mandate is nothing other than making Nigeria to be the renewable hub of West Africa. We have a total of about 86 million Nigerians without access to electricity.

    “A number of people will see that as a challenge facing the country. But the present government, led by President Tinubu, wants to capitalise on this challenge to turn it into an opportunity.

    “We want to leverage this 86 million Nigerians that do not have access to make Nigeria the renewable hub of West Africa.”

    Throwing light on how to provide electricity for the 86 million people, Aliyu said there is the need for financing, implementation vehicles, operational framework and domestication of the value chain in Nigeria.

    The REA managing director stressed the need for talent development in the renewable energy field.

    According to him, the Tinubu administration is committed to financially empowering the development of renewable energy, having signed the largest public sector-funded renewable project in West Africa.

    He said: “First, when it comes to financial, it is on record that this government has signed the biggest public sector-funded renewable project in the entire West Africa.”

    Aliyu said the $750 million distributed access through the Renewable Energy Scale-Up (DARES) project has already started.

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    The REA boss announced that the agency had started with the 14 interconnected mini-grids that would create reliability for the underserved and form the basis upon which the country would scale up its intervention.

    In the bid to scale up the development of renewable energy in the country, he said the agency sought an amendment to the regulation that capped a mini-grid at one MW.

    He said the REA got the approval to develop a mini-grid with over one MW capacity.

    Aliyu said: “Most of us here know that the mini-grid regulation has a top of one megawatt. Right? But because we really want to scale up our intervention, we engaged a regulator, and it is on record we exchanged over eight letters back and forth with the regulator.

    “At the end of the day, they gave us approval to implement a project that is above one megawatt.”

    He revealed that REA is targeting to generate 14 interconnected mini-grids for the deployment of an unprecedented interconnected mini-grid of 21.5 MW.

    He said to scale up the financial intervention of renewable energy development, besides the $750 million DARES project the agency already has, President Tinubu has approved a N100 billion funding for rural electrification agencies to implement the National Public Sector Solarisation Initiative.

    He described it is a Federal Government initiative to reduce the cost of governance.

  • REA signs MoU with 10 firms for generation of 948MW

    REA signs MoU with 10 firms for generation of 948MW

    The Rural Electrification Agency (REA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with 10 Renewable Energy Service Company (RESCO) including Oando Clean Energy for the generation of 948MW from renewable energy.

    Speaking at the ceremony in Abuja, the REA Managing Director, Engr. Abba Aliyu said the Federal Government has approved the establishment of N500 million  Renewable Asset Management Company targeted at raising N1 trillion for intervention in the industry in the absence of loans and grants.

    His words: “And to ensure the sustainability of all these interventions, the Rural Electrification Agency has secured the approval for the establishment of Renewable Asset Management Company. 

    “A company that will warehouse on its balance sheet all the mega assets, infrastructure that will be deployed at the universities, close to N500 million worth of assets.

    “This company will warehouse these assets and will leverage on the assets to raise close to N1 trillion so that we will continue to intervene even if there is no availability of loans and grants.”

    With the company, he said Nigeria will be standing on its own to continue to drive electricity access and infrastructure in the next many years to come.

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    He added: “So that ramp up is also something that we have started and we intend to make sure that it comes to reality before the end of the year.”

    He also noted that to reduce that cost of governance, we secured this N100 billion  to solarize the public sector institutions.

    According to him, the project will start in the next few weeks. 

    He revealed that REA has had advanced discussions with Japanese International Development Corporation for additional co-financing funding of 200 million dollar that will be added to the 750 million dollar the Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up (DARES) project, making the total funding for DARES to be 950 million dollars.

    Among the companies that signed the collaborative agreement or Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was Oando Clean Energy that undertook to execute 1,200MW.

    He announced that the agency is planning to establish the first Renewable Energy University in Africa in Abuja.

    The university, according to him, will be the hub of talent development in Nigeria.

  • REA, Anfani sign MoU to catalyse 1,500MW renewable projects

    REA, Anfani sign MoU to catalyse 1,500MW renewable projects

    The Rural Electrification Agency (REA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Anfani Energy Limited to catalyse funding and technological innovation for the implementation of 1,500MW renewable energy projects in the next three years.

    The Federal Government has already provided $750million to attract $1.1billion funding from private investors for the projects.

    In his remarks at the MoU signing ceremony in Abuja, Anfani, Managing Director, Mr. Ishaq Bolarinwa Anfani, said his firm is to bridge the gap of affordability and accessibility for renewable energy solutions.
    “We bridge the affordability and accessibility gap for renewable energy solutions in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa,” he said. 
    Explaining his firm’s role in the MoU, he said it is about about the removal of constraints and catalyzing financing for the projects.
    His words: “It is about igniting dreams, empowering communities, and catalyzing growth from the ground up. That is what renewable electrification is all about.
     “Regarding the MOU, we are treating it as an opportunity free from constraints. Catalytic financing is one aspect we want to source.”
    He said the process and project improvement are vital as the stakeholders  embark on the project. 
    He said as the firm focuses on technological innovation, it goes beyond building technology for communities to assessing and providing the suitable technology for them.
    “One thing we do is not build technology for communities; instead, we assess what the communities need and develop technology to suit them,” he said. 

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    Nigerian Electrification Project (NEP) Head, Mr. Olufemi Akinyelure said the REA developed the Renewable Energy Service Companies (RESCOs) strategy as part of its broader efforts to scale up improved energy access, particularly in underserved and off-grid rural areas and ensure sustainability of off-grid projects.

    He said the RESCO model plays a crucial role in the deployment and operation of off-grid electrification projects, specifically through public-private partnerships.

    The RESCO, according to him, is a central pillar of REA’s off-grid electrification efforts, ensuring that unserved, underserved and rural communities benefit from sustainable, affordable, and scalable renewable energy solutions.
    He added that in the light of Electricity Act (2023) giving states autonomy over their electricity market, the REA has initiated collaboration with state governments and RESCO’s to address potential bottlenecks and ensure structured and simplifies processes are in place towards achieving successful and sustainable project development.

    Akinyelure revealed that key elements of the RESCOs Strategy Public-Private Partnerships (PPP).

    The partnerships, he said, capitalise on the strengths of private investment, technical expertise, and operational capacity while REA provides critical support through policy frameworks, financing mechanisms, and monitoring oversight.