US Company unveils plans to provide solar mini-grids for 5000 Nigerian households

Barkin Kogi, a farming village in Nigeria of about 2000 people, has never had electricity, despite being located in Lafia, just less than an hour drive from the government’s house in Nasarawa state.

To change this narrative, a United States-based Husk Power Systems has signed a grant agreement with Nigeria’s Rural Electrification Agency (REA) to install solar mini-grids in seven rural communities which will power 5,000 households in the country’s Northcentral state of Nasarawa.

The agreement falls under the Solar Hybrid Minigrid Performance-Based Grant (PBG) sub-component of Nigeria Electrification Project (NEP), a project funded by the World Bank and the African Development Bank.

The objective of the PBG programme is to increase electricity access to unserved and underserved communities across Nigeria using solar hybrid technology. The agreement provides grants of $350 per connection with a minimum total grant request of $10,000 per minigrid.

The grant is under the purview of a subsidy, implemented by the REA support suppliers of green mini grids, whose power generation and distribution systems are major assets for rural electrification elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa.

“I am very excited to see our partnership with REA coming to fruition. It will enable Husk Nigeria, under our strong local leadership team, to scale rapidly in Nigeria and achieve our ambition of catalysing socio-economic development in rural communities across the country,” said Manoj Sinha, Husk Power co-founder and CEO.

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According to the CEO, Husk Power will install its mini-grids in Doma Local Government Area (Rukubi, Idadu, and Igbabo) and Lafia Local Government Area (Kiguna, Akura, Gidan Buba, and Sabon Gida).

Husk estimates that these mini-grids will provide electricity to 5,000 households, as well as rural small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Nearly a year ago, Husk secured $5 million from Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), the Dutch development finance company, to expand its services in Africa and Asia.

Founded in 2008, Husk Power Systems provides access to clean, modern and affordable electricity in Africa and Asia by developing and operating renewable energy mini-grids and adjacent energy services. The company’s grid-compatible solution also supports national electrification plans.