– Correctional Centres, NIRSALs, others benefit 

By Obas Esiedesa, Abuja 

The Rural Electrification Agency (REA) on Monday signed a Memorandum of Understanding with eight Renewable Energy Services Companies (RESCOS) for the construction of renewable energy mini-grid systems to supply a combined to 5,731 megawatts of electricity. 

Some of the companies involved include Energy Grid Solution Limited (3,000MW), Esodora Electronics Limited (1,000MW), and Tranos Solar Limited (800MW).

The benefiting government institutions include the The Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS) and Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System For Agricultural Lending Plc (NIRSAL).

Speaking at the event in Abuja, the Managing Director/CEO, REA, Engr Abba Aliyu said the agreements would significantly improve electricity supply to the institutions and areas targeted in the deals.

He pointed out that the agreement with Barton Heyman would unlock finances for renewable energy services companies in Nigeria 

“Through that MOU, we will demonstrate that commercial funding, not necessarily the federal government public funding, can be catalysed to deploy infrastructure across the country. Our target in the first instance is to catalyse N500 billion in the three phases of commercial funding that will be utilised to continue to deploy this renewable infrastructure across the country”, he stated.

Aliyu noted that the agreements signed by the REA go beyond mere papers to tangible outcomes that can seen and measured.

He disclosed that the agency has in the past few months signed partnership agreements with 13 state governments that have led to the construction of about 200 mini-grids across the states

“We have been having state-by-state roundtable and at the end of each roundtable, we signed an MOU with different subnationals. As of today, we have signed with 13 subnationals and based on those MOUs that we signed with these 13 subnationals, we have catalysed the deployment of about 200 mini grids that are currently being constructed in these 13 subnationals that we signed these MOUs with”.

On his part, Executive Director, Technical Services at the REA, Engr. Umar Umar said, through the MoUs with various stakeholders, the agency is laying the foundation for a new chapter of accelerated impact.

He said the REA currently implements projects across all 36 states and the FCT, with over 160MW of off-grid solar capacity deployed, electrifying more than 1,650 communities, powering over 1,000 healthcare centres, and connecting more than six million Nigerians. 

“For instance, with the Nigerian Correctional Service, we are introducing clean energy solutions to enhance security infrastructure, vocational rehabilitation, and operational efficiency in correctional facilities aligning with human rights and justice sector reforms”, he said.

Speaking at the event, Controller General of Corrections, Sylvester Nwakuche thanked the REA management for coming to the aide of the Correctional Service which has been generally underserved. 

He said: “We are pleased to be here this morning to thank you immensely for considering us, when I say us, over 81,000 of my sons and my daughters in incarceration, in a community that is underserved, in a community that is forgotten in demographic planning, in a community that when people are doing other things in the larger community, they forget the people that are in that community. 

“We are here not just to sign an MOU, but to deliver a collaboration that works, to deliver it on a platform that will provide renewable energy to this particular institution that will also assist in their rehabilitation, in their integration, in their vocational skills and training. With light, they say, who brings light, brings life.

“Some of them (inmates) also got news that we were coming together to provide more positive light for them, something that will help them and empower them upon release from custody. Today, we are not just empowering infrastructure, we are empowering lives. As we sign the MoU, I know it will go beyond just a vocation, it will go into the fabrics of our society”.