Page 10 - AfrElec Week 16 2021

AfrElec RENEWABLES AfrElec

Off-grid solar offers potential to

improve Nigerian power supplies

NIGERIA NIGERIAN Power Minister Goddy Jedy-Agba energy to thousands of businesses across mar-
has claimed that investing in off-grid solar pro- kets, shopping centres and industrial facilities.
jects will improve the reliability of power sup- He said that closing the energy gap with
plies to domestic and industrial customers as renewable energy would automatically cut down
well as reduce power bills. the cost of running businesses in Nigeria, which
He said that bringing in private investment will ultimately improve the country’s business
into the renewables sector would also drive for- survival index.
ward the country’s energy transition. “This project as well as others being sustained
Jedy-Agba was speaking during a visit to the across the country by innovative private devel-
609-kW Jabi Lake Mall solar hybrid power plant opers is in sync with the federal government’s
in Abuja, which was built by the UK’s Actis. renewable energy objective.
He called for private investors to build more “Energising clusters with high economic
partnership with the distribution companies activities and potential enables us to achieve
(Discos) in order to develop similar projects. positive environmental and economic impact
“Actis is proving that one can cut down using renewable energy. The critical role reliable
energy bills through this project and this should energy plays in the life of a business cannot be
be replicated in other places. The solar hybrid over-emphasised.
project at Jabi Lake Mall is another example of “By closing the energy gap in the business
Nigeria’s pioneering role in clean energy transi- landscape in Nigeria through the optimisation
tion,” he stated. of renewable energy solutions, we automatically
Ahmad Salihijo Ahmad, managing director cut down on the cost of running a business in
of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), said Nigeria, which ultimately improves our business
that as a key stakeholder in the renewable energy survival index,” he stated.
space, the REA supports such solar solutions. The 1,848 solar photovoltaic (PV) panels gen-
He described solar energy as clean, safe and erate 850 MWh of electricity annually under a
reliable, noting that a lot was being done to make 15-year solar power purchase agreement (SPPA)
such sources of energy available to power the between Jabi Mall Development Co. and Cross-
Nigerian economy. Boundary Energy, the developer.
Ahmad said the federal government through According to him, the project would reduce
the REA was implementing the Energising Econ- carbon emissions by 13,000 tonnes and cut
omies Initiative (EEI) to deploy clean renewable energy bills by 25-30%.™

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 16 22•April•2021