FG plans N1.1bn private sector funding in power sector

The Federal Government has disclosed plans to crystallise N1.1bn private sector funding for the power sector.

The Managing Director of Rural Electrification Agency, Abba Aliyu, disclosed this on Wednesday at the ongoing Nigeria Energy Summit, which was held in Lagos and organised by Informa Markets.

The theme of the summit was “Breaking Barriers to the New Energy Era: Clean, Reliable and Sustainable”.

He said, “In as much as we know there are lots of challenges in terms of the electricity aspect, the Federal Government is committing a lot of resources and a lot of strategies to be able to address this electricity gap.

“Apart from the $750m that has already been provided by the President’s government, we expect that the $750m would crystallise N1.1bn private sector funding as a co-financing requirement because we do not finance the entire infrastructure cost. We provide grants and subsidies as a way of catalysing this private sector funding, and we are also working towards catalysing N100bn as local financing for the developers, and this process has already started.”

The REA boss asserted that exploring other sources of power generation was critical, describing solar as easy to deploy.

He added, “However, the Minister of Power has asked us to look at how we can leverage on small hydro, micro-hydro, biomass, and wind, and we are working in that direction. In the next two to three weeks, you will have seen a notice of tender that will be sent out for a micro mini grid that we are partnering with which is about 336-kilowatt micro hydro plants that we are about to start implementing.

“Also, we have earmarked small and micro hydros in Katsina, Ondo, Ekiti, Cross River, Nassarawa, and Sokoto, and we are also about to start that. This is in our effort to integrate the other sources of renewable energy into our energy access drive.”

According to Aliyu, 1.5 million Nigerians grew interconnected mini-grids to enhance electricity reliability.

“Three million of them grew isolated mini-grids to create electricity access for the first time, and about 12 million of them grew a mesh grid, stand-alone system, and solar home system. This is what the country is doing, and this programme is starting next month.

“We are also improving the commercial viability of the players, and this has started even before the outcome of the World Bank report,” he said.

The REA boss called for an improvement in the commercial viability of the players.

“The private sector must improve their financial viability. The entire sustainability of the mini-grid, as with any project finance infrastructure, is reliably computed upon the financial viability of the player that is implementing this. Whether it is mini-grid, off-grid, or any infrastructure financing, that viability is subject to the commercial viability of the implementing app, whether it’s the private sector or public sector.

“So, in the off-grid, that financial viability is contingent upon howith,nancially lucrative and capable are the private sectors that are deploying this infrastructure app,” he said.

Meanwhile, the co-founder of Lihon Energy, Hakeem Disu, lauded the Nigerian energy transition.

He stated that it was the most advanced compared to other African nations because of the opportunities to go through some of the energy transaction plans.

He said, “The mini green and solar system that is coming from the rural electrification agency is the way governments pointed out that we can use it to improve the livelihood and economic activities of the people in rural areas.

“The net project improves investors’ confidence in Nigeria; it is like a World Bank reward grant, like a carbon credit for businesses that are improving or providing electricity to people in rural areas. Over 75 per cent of negotiations are very much interested in renewable energy.

“Over less than 20 per cent of the Nigerian population are into agriculture and most of these people live in rural areas. There are so many ways this project can improve the lifelong activities of people living in rural areas by providing solar power irrigation to improve some sort of water irrigation and solar power dryer to preserve agriculture produce.”

Earlier in his opening remarks, the Exhibition Director of Energy Portfolio-MEA, Informa Markets, Ade Yusuf, said the African region was increasingly becoming a supply house for global economic growth, driven by its rich natural resources and the growing appetite for innovation and investment.

“Being in the market for 11 years now, the event has adapted to this new reality of the global conversation on sustainability, energy transition, and climate change. Across this dynamic region, energy markets are transforming at an unprecedented pace.