Energy and Power
How we deployed 4 Solar hybrid mini-grids to locations battling with COVID-19 – REA MD/CEO
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Rural Electrification Agency, REA, Ahmad Salihijo has stated that he first encountered challenges of COVID-19 pandemic few days after assumption of office as the Managing Director of.the Rural Electrification Agency, REA.
In a message to mark his one year in office on Thursday in Abuja, Salihijo explained that it became urgent for REA to intervene in providing Solar Hybrid Mini-grids in four locations of the where the pandemic.was worst hit,.adding that the interventions paid off as critical medical equipment were being powered 24 hours.
He said: “After assessing the strain of the pandemic on healthcare delivery, while appreciating the nexus between reliable energy and quality healthcare delivery, it became necessary to move fast along these lines. We quickly deployed four Solar Hybrid Mini-grids in four locations battling with high number of COVID-19 cases.
“As expected, these interventions since delivery have been powering ventilators, coolers and other critical medical equipment in those locations.
In the message which was posted on their website and seen by CAPITAL POST, the MD expressed shock, stating, that he never knew the pandemic was going to hold down the world in a manner it did.
“At this time, COVID-19 had not hit, neither did we have any idea how much the world was going to change right before our eyes. We never envisioned a pandemic that was ultimately going to disrupt the growth path of development efforts across the world.
“The year 2020 has been one like no other as individuals and agencies across the world have continued to chart new courses for safety and survival.
“Whenever I am asked what my take-away for 2020 is, I like to explain how important collaboration is when looking to make real changes. The quality and depth of inter-sectorial and inter-agency collaborations we had at the Agency this year have actually resulted in the impact we have recorded, in spite of the pandemic.
Rolling out some of his achievements in the last one year, he wrote:
“We completed 7 mini-grids and deployed over 6,000 Standalone Solar Home Systems to off-grid communities across the nation under the Rural Electrification Fund (REF); 3 mini-grids and 2 grid extension projects were also delivered using the Federal Government’s Capital Appropriation; 3 projects delivered through the Performance-Based Grant of the World-Bank and AfDB-funded Nigeria Electrification Project (NEP); one project delivered under the Energizing Education Programme (EEP).
“With the delivery of these projects, thousands of new connections have been achieved with quality socio-economic impact being recorded in off-grid communities.
He was optimistic that the agency would deliver about 5 million new power to about 25 million Nigerians in 2021.
“Kicking off my second year in office, there is so much more work to be done. The Federal Government already tasked us with the implementation of Solar Power Naija, a component of the Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP) designed to deliver 5 million new solar connections, serving 25 million Nigerians in rural areas and under-served urban cities.
“Within the first quarter of 2021, we plan to kick off deployment of the Energizing Health Programme, designed to energize 100 isolation centers and 400 PHCs, in phases.
“Also, as we round off delivery of all 12 mini-grids and 19, 000 SHS under the 1st Call of the Rural Electrification Fund (REF), the 2nd Call is underway with more mini-grids to be delivered.
“The Standalone Solar Home System (SHS) is proving to be a smart way to deliver energy for use in homes.
“This component is receiving a lot of quality attention with 7 new SHS developers recently signed under the Output-based Fund (OBF), increasing the number of companies in our portfolio from 12 to 19. The target is to electrify 1 million households and 90, 000 MSMEs through this component.
“The 2nd Phase of the Energizing Education Programme (EEP) is underway. We are already carrying out energy audits at EEP Phase 2 beneficiary universities. This programme alone is designed to deliver clean, safe and reliable energy to 37 Federal Universities and 7 Teaching Hospitals across the nation.
“I appreciate the guidance of the REA Board as well as the tireless efforts of the entire management and staff members of the REA.
“With a renewed sense of urgency, we plan to accelerate the deployment of these projects while providing more data-driven interventions to serve the energy needs of Nigerians as mandated by the Federal Government of Nigeria”, he concluded.
President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of executive and non-executive members for the newly established Nigerian Independent System Operator, NISO.
In a statement issued on Wednesday by the Special Adviser to the President on Informaion and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga in Abuja, listed the names of members as, Adesegun Olugbade as the board chairman, while Abdu Mohammed Bello was appointed the Managing Director.
Four other Executive Directors are Engineer Nafisatu Asabe Ali for Systems Operation, Engineer Shehu Abba-Aliyu for Systems Planning, Dr. Edmund Eje for Market Operations, and Mr. Babajide Ibironke for Finance and Corporate Services.
According to the statement, the Non-Executive Directors include Lamu Audu, representing Generation; Folake Soetan for Distribution; Tajudeen Giwa-Osagie as Market Expert; Sule Ahmed Abdulaziz for Transmission, and Alhaji Mahmuda Mamman, Permanent Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Power.
“The National Council on Privatisation (NCP) will finalise the recruitment process.
“These appointments align with the Electricity Act of 2023. They followed a memorandum from Vice President Kashim Shettima and a rigorous selection process conducted by the Independent Board Nomination Committee (IBNC) in collaboration with Phillips Consulting Limited.
“The creation of NISO fulfils a key mandate of the Electricity Act (2023), which requires the unbundling of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) into a Transmission System Provider (TSP) and an Independent System Operator (ISO).
“The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) officially established NISO on April 30, 2024. The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) are its subscribers, each holding equal equity shares.”
The Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN), through its Energy Management Systems project, has trained stakeholders in various Ministries and Agencies in Nigeria to enhance industrial energy performance and promote resource-efficient, cleaner production.
The training took place in Abuja on Monday.
The ECN said the initiative is implemented through programmatic approaches and the promotion of innovation in clean technology solutions.
Speaking during the event, the ECN Director General, Dr. Mustapha Abdullahi, stated that the aim of the training was to promote innovation in clean technology solutions under the NIG IEE/RECP Project, which is supported by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).
According to him, the project is also targeted at strengthening national industrial energy efficiency (IEE) policies and regulatory frameworks to encourage the adoption of UNIDO’s Energy Management Systems Standards (EnMS/ISO 50001) in Nigeria.
The Director General said, “With the increase in energy prices and the environmental impacts of energy consumption, there is a growing need for balanced energy usage and effective energy management to minimize energy wastage. It is therefore commendable that this timely training on Energy Management Systems (EnMS) is organized to present a systematic framework for establishing policies, processes, procedures, and specific energy-related tasks aimed at meeting an organization’s energy-saving targets.”
Also, the Program Coordinator for Environment and Energy at the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) for Nigeria and ECOWAS, Mr. Oluyomi Banjo, commended the ECN for organizing the training.
He said, “Globally, industries account for one-third of total energy consumption and almost 40% of worldwide COz emissions. The need to reduce energy consumption, environmental degradation, and resource depletion by industries in emerging economies is particularly urgent. Since 1990, global growth in industrial production has been dominated by emerging economies like India and China, which together accounted for over 80% of increased industrial production during this period.
“This project was collectively developed and submitted by UNIDO on behalf of Nigeria in 2017 under the Global Environment Facility (GEF) 6 programming cycle. It was approved for full project development in 2017 and subsequently for full project implementation in 2020. It may interest you to know that, for the first time at UNIDO, we are integrating industrial energy efficiency with resource efficiency and cleaner production in a single project. In South Africa, UNIDO’s project on Industrial Energy Efficiency recently received the Best Project of the Year award from the Southern Africa Energy Efficiency Confederation. We look forward to replicating such achievements in Nigeria.”
“The outcome of this project is targeted at industries, aiming to develop an expert base in Nigeria that could also be exported to other countries in Africa and beyond.”
The Rural Electricity Agency (REA), in partnership with the Adamawa State Government, is set to convene the REA – Adamawa State Strategic Roundtable theme “Empowering Adamawa: Unlocking Private Sector Opportunities in Distributed Renewable Energy”, scheduled for the 3rd of March, 2025 at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja. The Agency invites frontline stakeholders in the clean energy ecosystem, including private sector players and development finance institutions to this strategic, solution-focused Roundtable.
In line with the Agency’s ongoing State-by-State initiative designed to exploit the tenets of the 2023 Electricity Act, passed into Law by His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, the Agency has sustained its drive to deliver on the objectives of the futuristic Act, while strengthening the National Electrification and Strategy Implementation Plan (NESIP).
Leaning on the strategic efforts of the Honourable Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, the REA State-by-State Strategic Roundtables continue to serve as a veritable tool and a meeting point to facilitate impactful partnerships between active stakeholders in the energy sector while exploring opportunities for the growth of the state electricity markets.
Having convened five Roundtables with five State Governments, the Agency is now working in lockstep with the Adamawa State Government, at the behest of His Excellency, Governor Ahmadu Umaru Finitri, and the Managing Director of the REA, Abba Abubakar Aliyu, to facilitate structured, data-driven commitments for people-centred infrastructural development through innovation and sustainability in Adamawa State’s electricity market.
The State Government, under the leadership of Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, has advanced efforts towards strengthening its electricity market, including the planned establishment of Independent Power Plants across the state and the set-up of the Adamawa State Electricity Commission tasked with regulating the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity in the State.
The 2023 Electricity Act, having aided the decentralization of the nation’s electricity sector has given State Governments the regulatory freedom over their respective electricity market.
Leaning on the mandate of the REA as well as the Agency’s technical and strategic expertise, the REA – Adamawa State Strategic Roundtable will serve as an opportunity to exploit the tenets of the NESIP; strengthening PPPs for data-driven clean energy projects in Adamawa state; supporting the State’s efforts on improved electricity distribution and renewable energy integration; exploring investment opportunities in Adamawa State Electricity market and exploring technology options for improved, sustainable energy access in the State.
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