Uche Cecil Izuora
Nigeria is gradually but consistently improving power supply reliability and affordability through structural transition in off-grid electricity sector.
The Managing Director of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) Abba Aliyu, says the ongoing structural transition in Nigeria’s off-grid electricity sector, from small-scale pilot projects to a bankable, utility-style market following key regulatory interventions by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
Speaking in Abuja during a knowledge-exchange visit by the Zanzibar Utilities Regulatory Authority (ZURA), Aliyu said that the shift has paved the way for the construction of 48 interconnected mini-grid (IMG) sites across 19 states, cutting across 10 Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos).
Aliyu noted that the interconnected mini-grid projects cut across 10 electricity distribution companies (DisCos) and are being rolled out as one unified programme under the Interconnected Mini-Grid (IMG) regulatory framework introduced by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
According to Aliyu, the scheme is expected to deliver 252,505 new and improved electricity connections when completed, alongside 213.3 megawatts-peak (MWp) of solar photovoltaic capacity, 166.1 megawatt-hours (MWh) of storage and 82.5 megawatts of peak load.
“The mini-grid regulations last year had a cap of 1 megawatt. We can’t build a mini-grid above 1 megawatt. What we showed the regulator, the economics and the technical data, they changed the regulation. Now we can build a mini-grid of up to 10 megawatts interconnected and 5 megawatts isolated,” he said.
He said the regulatory change had opened the door for larger, more bankable projects and helped reshape the market from a contractor-led space into one increasingly driven by developers and utility-scale operators.
“We are no more contractors. They come, fix all, do this. But when we created that ecosystem and opportunity, they started transition from contractors to developers. And now that we have 1,350 mini-grids, we ask them that you have to start to move from developers to a utility-scale managed company,” he added.
Aliyu said the REA now works with more than 150 Renewable Energy Service Companies (RESCOs) some of which already manage portfolios of around 30 megawatts and are increasingly expanding beyond Nigeria.
He said the reforms were not limited to regulation alone, but were also supported by a much broader planning and data strategy designed to target communities and productive-use assets more precisely.
According to him, the agency has mapped more than 700,000 communities nationwide, alongside 51,022 hospitals, 11,129 markets, 170 schools, 7,979 factories, 407 functioning mini-grids, 57 dams and 2,194 feeders across distribution company networks.
Aliyu said the data-driven approach is intended to determine the least-cost way of electrifying each location, whether through solar home systems, isolated or interconnected mini-grids, or grid extension