Energy firm commits to renewable energy projects, reduce CO2

Universal Energy Facility (UEF) has said it was committed to providing grants to renewable energy companies who applied to have their projects financed as part of the facility’s ‘Stand-alone Solar for Productive Use’ programme in Nigeria.

According to the organisation, through its Sustainable Energy for All financing facility, these companies will now begin construction on their proposed solar projects, all of which are designed to connect businesses and services to a clean, affordable and reliable electricity source.

This is the first grant funding window under the Stand-alone Solar for Productive Use programme in Nigeria. The UEF has identified many additional viable projects for financing in future waves.

Damilola Ogunbiyi, the CEO/special representative of the UN secretary-general for Sustainable Energy for All, said with this programme in Nigeria, the Universal Energy Facility will demonstrate the enabling power that sustainable energy can have on local economic development and climate action.

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Ogunbiyi said that solar projects supported by the facility will give businesses clean and affordable electricity to help them scale up, create jobs, and replace polluting power sources.

“These projects will span most states in Nigeria and be completed within the next 12 months. Together, they will connect approximately 3,500 businesses, markets, shopping malls, cold-storage facilities, clinics, schools, and other productive uses of energy, which are uses that support economic activity and community infrastructure,” she said.

She further said that as stand-alone solar energy projects, they will alleviate the need for businesses and services to rely on expensive, polluting fossil fuel generators as their source of power. The UEF estimates that approximately 5,400 tons of CO2 equivalent per year will be saved once all of the proposed projects are implemented.

Yemi Osinbajo, vice president of Nigeria, while speaking at the launch of the Federal Government’s Energy Transition Plan in 2022, said the Universal Energy Facility would provide grant payments to enable solar companies to expand their operations to small and medium-sized enterprises across Nigeria, while crowding-in additional private capital

Osinbajo said projects supported by the Universal Energy Facility will help grow businesses and create jobs, making them key contributors to our Energy Transition Plan.

Goddy Jedy Agba, minister of state for power, said: “This Universal Energy Facility programme is a practical demonstration of targeted investment in our power sector and in our overall objective to provide energy access to all Nigerians.”

The Stand-alone Solar for Productive Use programme in Nigeria opened for applications in August 2022 and received expressions of interest from hundreds of energy developers.

“Within just a few months of opening this programme in Nigeria, we are now at the point where grantees have been selected and companies can start building transformative stand-alone solar projects,” said Anita Otubu, senior director, Universal Energy Facility. “The Universal Energy Facility is proving the effectiveness of results-based finance to catalyse energy development at speed and scale.”

Simon Harford, CEO, Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet, said: “The global energy transition must power both people and planet, enabling economic opportunities and displacing carbon-intensive technologies.

“The Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP) is proud to support the Universal Energy Facility’s efforts to offer targeted, country-specific solutions in those communities most affected by energy poverty and climate change. The UEF has the potential to become a unifying force and the platform of choice for those interested in results-based financing,” he said.