President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has announced that more than 1,000 mini-grids are currently under development across Nigeria as part of efforts to expand electricity access to underserved communities, universities, markets, and hospitals.
In his Democracy Day broadcast, the President also revealed that 48 interconnected mini-grids, capable of adding 288 megawatts (MW) of electricity capacity, are being deployed in collaboration with 11 distribution companies.
Tinubu stated that these projects are part of broader reforms aimed at addressing challenges in the power sector. He said, "To address the problems besetting the sector, I signed the Electricity Act, which grants states authority to generate, transmit and distribute power."
He further added that the Presidential Power Sector Task Force has been authorized to raise a N4 trillion bond to settle verified legacy debts and reduce the country's metering deficit.
The President also commended the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) for deploying off-grid and mini-grid power solutions to underserved communities across the country. This came days after the agency commissioned solar hybrid mini-grid projects in Emewe Efopa, Dekina Local Government Area, and Offa in Olamaboro Local Government Area of Kogi State.
The projects, delivered under the REA-DARES Performance-Based Grant Programme funded by the World Bank and implemented by PriVida, have capacities of 442 kilowatts (kW) and 704kW respectively. According to the agency, 11 mini-grid sites have so far been completed across Kogi State under the programme, bringing installed capacity to 2.5MW.
These projects are expected to provide electricity to more than 5,000 households, while supporting businesses, schools, and healthcare facilities.
The REA said the World Bank-supported Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up (DARES) initiative is targeting electricity access for more than 17.5 million Nigerians and direct connections for over 2.5 million households through 1,350 mini-grids, including 250 interconnected systems.
The agency also disclosed that more than 50 last-mile mini-grids are being advanced through the Rural Electrification Fund to extend electricity access to communities without existing utility infrastructure.
In addition, a collaborative programme with the United Nations Development Programme under the Africa Mini-grid Programme has established 23 specialized mini-grids designed to support post-harvest processing, milling and cold-storage activities.
The agency further stated that Nigeria has 3.7 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy capacity in its development pipeline, with locally manufactured solar panels being exported to regional markets, including Accra, Ghana.
