Niger State governor, Abubakar Sani Bello, on Tuesday, inaugurated ENGIE Energy Access hybrid 90kW mini-grid to connect un-electrified households and small businesses in Nigeria.
The mini-grid will directly impact over 1,500 people by providing affordable, reliable and clean electricity.
Bello, who was assisted by Emmanuelle Blatmann, French ambassador to Nigeria, stated that ENGIE Energy Access will connect the people of Gbangba community in Niger State to an electric power supply with the mini-grid for the first time ever and empowers over 300 customers, comprising households, micro and small enterprises.
Sub-Saharan Africa has the world’s lowest energy access rate, with more than half of its people unconnected to electricity. In Nigeria, about 43.5 percent of people live without access to energy. This presents an opportunity to employ grand-scale innovation and the intervention of renewable energy solutions within the electricity sector in Nigeria.
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“This mini-grid will foster socio-economic development and prosperity in the Gbangba community, its people and its neighbors. It will serve private households and commercial businesses – provision shops, grocery sellers, bakeries, mobile phone chargers etc. It will boost the productivity of farmers and food production by powering agricultural loads such as irrigation pumping and cold storage, productive loads such as grind mills and wood or metalworking shops, and semi-industrials such as telecom towers and processing plants,” said Bankole Cardoso, managing director, ENGIE Energy Access Nigeria.
Cardoso noted that Nigeria’s electricity challenge remains a huge gap that needs to be filled in the country’s journey to fulfill its full potential as a nation. According to him, the power challenge in Nigeria requires the support of the private sector. “The construction of the Gbangba mini-grid demonstrates how private investment can help to address the infrastructure gap in the energy industry,” he stated.
Gillian-Alexandre Huart, CEO, ENGIE Energy Access, said that the mini-grid was not only a win for Gbangba community but a win for Nigeria at large, as it demonstrates company’s strong commitment to meeting the growing decentralized energy needs with an ambition to build over 100 mini-grids across the country.
“The launch of our first mini-grid in Nigeria means that we have now installed mini-grids in five African countries, with other ENGIE Energy Access mini-grid sites in Benin, Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia. Our plan is to further expand our mini-grid business on the continent over the coming months and years – adding other countries to our footprint,” said Huart.
