Managing Director/Chief Executive, Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Mr. Ahmad Salihijo, said it had disbursed over $1.1 million to 12 solar power companies.
It is part of efforts to boost rural electrification across the country.
This came as the federal government also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Output-Based Fund (OBF) grant with seven private companies for the deployment of Solar Home Systems (SHS) to small businesses and power rural communities cut off from the national grid.
Speaking during the signing ceremony over the weekend in Abuja, Salihijo, said the objective of the stand-alone SHS component was to help millions of underserved households and Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) access better energy services at a lower cost.
Under the agreement, the companies are also required to provide electricity to small businesses located in areas categorised as unserved or under-served in terms of power supply.
The firms which signed the MoU with the agency included Arnergy Solar Limited, Central Electric and Utilities Consortium, Cloud Energy PhotoElectric Limited, and Sosai Renewables Solar Electric.
Others included JV Solar Integrated Power Solutions Limited, Leadsun Technologies Company Limited, Privida Power Limited.
The REA Component Head, SHS, Ifunanya Nwandu-Dozie, said the firms were selected through a rigorous evaluation process.
She pointed out that the OBF was inaugurated in April, 2019, adding that to date the SHS team in partnership with the federal government had signed agreements with 12 companies, three of which were signed during the recent lockdown to curtail the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
She said: “We’ve also disbursed over $1.1 million to these companies who have sold over 105,000 systems spread across the 36 states in Nigeria.
“I am very pleased to see continued interest in this very prominent issue of tackling energy poverty in Nigeria. The Solar Home Systems team has been looking forward to this event.”
