THE Rural Electrification Agency (REA) says starting in November, the Federal Government will kick-start a new rural electricity project bankrolled by the World Bank to provide electricity for 17.5 million Nigerians.
The Managing Director of the Rural Electrification Agency, Abba Aliyu, disclosed this when he appeared on Channels Television’s Sunrise daily programme on Thursday.
Recall that in December 2023, the World Bank announced the approval of Nigeria Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up project, being financed by $750m International Development Association credit and would leverage over $1bn of private capital and significant parallel financing from development partners.
The financing from development partners includes $100m from the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet and $200m from the Japan International Cooperation Agency.
Other development partners collaborating on the programme include the United States Agency for International Development, the German Development Agency, SEforAll, and the African Development Bank.
But 10 months after its approval, the REA MD noted that the project would begin implementation next month without stating reasons for the delay.
He explained that three million anticipated beneficiaries would be connected through the isolated mini-grid, 1.5 million Nigerians through the inter-connected mini-grip, and 12 million would be electrified using a merged grid and solar stand-alone system.
Aliyu said, “There is a new project that we are starting next month called the Distributed Renewable Energy Scale-up project which is a $750 million financed by the World Bank.”
“The target of that project is to electrify 17.5 million Nigerians, and I must say that this is one of the most ambitious projects in the world based on my understanding from India that has moved many unelectrified people to have access to electricity.
“Three million of them through the isolated mini-grid, 1.5 million Nigerians through the interconnected mini grip, 12 million would be electrified using a merged grid and solar stand-alone system.”
Aliyu further said the project is estimated to last for five years and was built on successes recorded from similar projects in the past which cost $550 million and were funded by the World Bank and the African Development Bank.
