REA Signs Multiple MoUs in Bid to Supply 17.5 Million Nigerians Renewable Energy

•Oando plans solar modular assembly plant in Nigeria

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

The Rural Electrification Agency (REA) yesterday signed several Memorandums of Association (MoUs) as part of its plan to supply renewable energy solutions to 17.5 million underserved Nigerians.

The Renewable Energy Service Companies (RESCOs) the agency signed the deals with included: Ashlpa Electric Ltd; De-Janees Concepts Ltd; Fox Power Ltd; MBH Power Ltd; Okra Solar PTY Ltd; Oando Clean Energy;  Sosal Renewable Energy Ltd and  Welight Nigeria Ltd.

Speaking at the event, the Managing Director and Chief Executive of the REA, Mr Abba Aliyu, stated that President Bola Tinubu has given the organisation a clear mandate to make Nigeria  the renewable hub of West Africa.

Stressing that the country has a total of about 86 million persons without access to electricity, Aliyu stated that to achieve that supply, there was a need to fill the huge funding gap and domestication of the renewables value chain.

Aliyu added that the current government has signed the biggest public sector funded renewable project in the entire Sub-saharan Africa, reiterating that the implementation of the $750 million programme has already started.

“And this shows clearly our drive to scale our intervention. So, as regards to funding, apart from the $750 million project that is already with us in this year’s project, Mr. President has approved a N100 billion funding for rural electrification agencies to implement what we call the National Public Sector Solarisation Initiative.

“This  is a federal government initiative to reduce the cost of governance. The analysis that we have seen of budget implementation has shown a number of public institutions spending a lot of money to buy diesel or to pay for electricity.

“And to reduce that cost of governance, we secured N100 billion to solarise the public sector institutions. And that project will start in the next few weeks.

“We also have advanced discussion with the Japanese International Development Corporation for additional co-financing funding of $200 million that will be added to the $750 million  project, making the total funding for the Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up (DARES) to be $950 million,” Aliyu added.

According to him, the REA intends to catalyse $1.1 billion as private sector funding for the implementation of the DARES programme.

“The DARES programme has an ambition to electrify 17.5 million Nigerians… about 12 million of thatbusing mesh-free and standalone power systems,” he added.

Speaking on behalf of his company, the President and Chief Executive of Oando Clean Energy, Ademola Ogunbanjo, stated that out of the planned 1,200mw, Oando  will be rolling out by this time next year, the first 600mw line.

“It will also be the first, on the African continent, solar modular assembly plant with a recycling line. So we’re building a solar modular assembly plant in Nigeria that will not only roll out solar panels, but also be able to take solar panels that are no longer working, maybe due to age or dysfunction, and recycle them into raw materials that we can then send back to those who use them for different purposes.

“A just transition cannot happen if we don’t retain value on the African continent. It’s not only about building infrastructure for energy provision. It is important that the supply chain is embedded within our environment.

“In another 10 years, Africa would have invested about, say, $50 billion on diverse PV infrastructure projects. And if present trends continue, about 85 per cent to 90 per cent of that money will find its way to China in exchange for solar modules and other components.

“And that’s why to us at Oando, it’s extremely important that we build capacity for manufacturing so that we can supply everyone else in this room who provides the infrastructure. So you buy local. And we’re competitive as well in quality and pricing,” Ogunbanjo added.