Schneider Electric has restated its commitment to providing efficient energy solutions to communities with no access to electricity.

Addressing newsmen at the Energy Access Investment Forum, EAIF, Conference in Lagos, Country President of Schneider Electric West Africa, Ajibola Akindele, stated that the company was dedicated to bridging the energy gap especially with emphasis on efficiency and sustainable energy solutions.

Akindele said its energy solution was focused on management, software service as well as industrial automation.

He said: “Our mission is to be a global digital partner for sustainability and efficiency, empowering all to make the most of our energy resources, bridge progress and sustainability for all. At Schneider Electric, we call this Life is On. We have a proven track record and experience of 25 years in carrying out sustainability practices globally and have been recognized by the Corporate Knights Global 100 Index as the top 100 world’s most sustainable corporation for the 12th time in a row.

“In Nigeria, we have over a hundred partners serving all our customers in regions we serve across various industries: power sector, real estates, transportation, oil and gas, telecommunication, and travel and tourism. With a million electricians, 6000+ official distributors of Schneider Electric, and 120 thousand point of sale distributors, Schneider Electric is a diversified company, closely knit to our customers, and delivering solutions that address the Nigerian market.”

Thomas Bonicel, in his remarks, lamented that climate change was impacting negatively on rural communities making lives unbearable for them.

Bonicel said: “Access to energy is not only to cooking or charging phones. It is sacrosanct to economic development. In rural areas, we are committed to ensure that this solution improves their farming activities among others.”

On Schneider Electric’s Access to Energy (A2E) programme, he emphasised that the programme’s mission was to empower communities through clean and reliable energy access.

He said: “In achieving sustainability, by 2030, we want to be net zero ready on all our operations, end-to-end carbon neutral value chain by 2040, and net zero C02 value chain by 2050.

“Schneider Electric has a wide range of Access to Energy solutions suitable for electrifying small homes and micro-enterprises, fundamental public services, up to villages and communities.”

On her part, Commercial Leader, Microgrid, Schneider Electric, Teina Teibowei, said the Villaya Flex microgrid solution is well-positioned to tackle the electrification challenges of these remote communities, potentially serving as a valuable asset for the World Bank’s Nigeria Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up (DARES) project.

According to her, “Villaya Flex is a packaged, comprehensive microgrid solution that maximises solar energy to minimise reliance on polluting gensets. It incorporates smart monitoring and an integrated management system to efficiently manage multiple energy sources, ultimately optimizing the mini grid’s performance. Specifically designed for rural, off-the-grid communities, it aims to ensure a dependable and sustainable energy supply to meet daily needs and power productive economic activities in these communities.”