KUNLE KALEJAYE

Following the Federal Government’s aspiration to grow the power sector through alternate power sources away from the conventional hydro and thermal systems, Schneider Electric has launched a new solar enabled power project called Villasol in Asore area of Ogun state.

Speaking ahead of the launch and project commissioning, the Country President of Schneider Electric Nigeria, Mr. Marcel Hochet, said Villasol is part of the company’s innovative approach towards addressing the huge energy deficit of Nigerians and other people in less developed countries of the world.

According to Mr. Hochet, ‘Schneider Electric is waging war on darkness with the power of the sun. Villasol brings with it, the hope and possibility that rural communities can now have access to electricity without depending on the national grid. The product will help drive improvement in the living conditions of people at the base of the pyramid who do not have access to electricity in Nigeria and the rest of the world’.

Ogun State governor Senator Ibukun Amosu said the Asore power project will bring about more private and public partnership such as in rural road construction and electricity project that will propel rural development in the state.

Senator Amosu who was ably represented by the deputy governor of the state Alhaja Salmot Badru said the Ogun State government is poised to provide rural infrastructure that will gradually slow down rural urban migration and he urged the youths to stay in the rural communities so that they can contribute their quota to the development of rural areas.

According to Badru the solar energy project was Schneider Electric initiative that will attract economic and social development in the community and improve the well being of the people.

The government of Ogun State is therefore determined to encourage private sector participation in the development of the state.

“This kind of project will be carried out in 150 rural communities of the state”

Speaking at the unveiling of the project, senior Vice President of Schneider Electric Africa region Mr Guillauwa Schoebel referred to community approval, financial assistance and technical solution as the three pillars needed to accomplish this project in other rural communities that have no access to regular power supply.

He noted that the Asore Villasol Power Project is the first in Nigeria territory and Africa as a whole.

Director General Energy Commission of Nigeria Professor Abubakar Sani Sambo said the model Schneider Electric brought is one the Federal government has been looking at which has led to the approval of the National Energy Counsel in 2003 and in 2005 there was a renewal of the Energy Master Plan.

“The renewal energy is always there and it is never exhausted unlike the conventional energy of oil, coal and gas. We can also tap from the wind to generate power. The training of our people in the technical area of solar energy is very important”.

Professor Sambo used the occasion to urge the Ogun state government to invest more resources in solar energy in the state.

A standard Villasol application can produce up to 4KW of power to support community services such as schools, health centres, water supply and collective lighting. It consists of a Schneider Electric Villasol panel, photovoltaic panels, a battery bank and battery charging stations that enable a communal recharge system.

For entrepreneurial activities, Villasol can provide electricity for light industrial activities in the rural areas which includes mills, handcraft, soldering, irrigation, mobile phone recharge as well as for domestic appliances like radio and television.

Before the Schneider Electric initiative, Asore village resident had no access to electricity. But now the story has changed as Villasol power project built and donated by Schneider Electric has brought relief to the people of Asore. The Asore solar energy will generate and transmit 4 KW of electricity to 80 houses in the community and a school.

Reputed as the largest Black Country in the world, Nigeria has a population of over 150 million with about 60 percent of the people estimated to lack access to electricity. The power deficit in Nigeria has seriously impeded developmental effort and undermined economic activities.

Due to nearly obsolete energy production, transmission and distribution technologies, energy losses are high in Nigeria. Broadening energy supply is therefore a major challenge. Many organizations such as the World Bank and businesses like Schneider Electric are investing in project to stimulate the country’s development by bringing electricity to rural areas that will improve the health of poor families and educate them. The use of alternative energy reduces environmental impact.