The Rural Electrification Agency (REA) of Nigeria has signed grant agreements with eight renewable energy companies under the World Bank-backed Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-Up (DARES) project. The move aims to extend clean energy access to over 17.5 million Nigerians, particularly in unserved and underserved communities.
Under the Performance-Based Grant scheme, Privida Power Limited will deploy 2.47 MW of isolated solar mini-grids across 11 communities in Kogi State, adding 11,000+ new electricity connections. Other companies, including Baobab Plus, Salpha Energy, Asolar, NTA-StarTimes, A4&T, Sunking Greenlight Planet, Bboxx, and D.Light, will provide solar home systems to rural households and MSMEs nationwide.
REA Managing Director Abba Aliyu confirmed that the project includes 1,350 mini-grid deployments and 1.6 million solar home systems, collectively expected to deliver 47 MW of clean energy and 340,000+ new connections. He emphasized the role of the Renewed Hope Agenda in addressing energy poverty across Nigeria.
The DARES initiative also contributes to the global Mission 300 target of delivering electricity to 300 million Africans by 2030.
Culled from Solar Quarter
