The Rural Electrification Agency has announced that its Distributed Energy System project will provide electricity to 17.5 million Nigerians.
The agency also revealed that its 2023 capital projects have positively impacted the lives of approximately 1.4 million “unserved and underserved” Nigerians.
This achievement was disclosed during the presentation of the 2023 Capital Project Implementation Report by the REA Managing Director/Chief Executive, Abba Aliyu, alongside other key agency executives in Abuja on Monday.
Aliyu emphasised the strategic importance of the agency’s various funding sources, including the national budget and bilateral agreements with international financial institutions, among others.
“We are nearing the completion of a $550 million Nigerian electrification project, and we have secured an additional $750 million to commence the implementation of the DES project.
The DES project is the largest public sector-funded off-grid project in the world.
The goal of this project is to provide electricity to 17.5 million Nigerians out of the 85 million who currently lack access,” Aliyu stated.
The REA has outlined specific approaches to achieve its electrification goals.
“We have a clear plan: 30 million Nigerians will be electrified using isolated mini-grids, 1.5 million Nigerians through interconnected mini-grids, and about 12.5 million Nigerians with both mesh grids and solar home systems.
This represents the second source of funding that we have secured,” he noted.
Aliyu added that security and sustainability have been prioritised in REA’s project designs, saying, “We design our projects with the end in mind, ensuring community engagement to foster ownership and sustainability.
In all the communities where we deploy our assets, we create cooperative societies to ensure not only the safeguarding of infrastructure but also job creation.”
The Executive Director of Technical Services at REA, Abdullahi Umar, elaborated on the impact metrics, confirming that the 2023 capital projects have benefitted 1.4 million Nigerians.
“Our estimates are scientifically grounded, and we have analysed the agricultural, socioeconomic, and other impacts of every project we have implemented.
For 2024, our budget has been increased by nearly four times what it was in 2023, so we anticipate even greater impacts,” Umar stated.
On funding and sustainability, the Executive Director of the Rural Electrification Fund,
Mrs Doris Udoh, highlighted the agency’s approach to ensuring long-term viability, adding that tariff payments, although regulated by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, are structured to be affordable for rural communities.
