The Rural Electrification Agency secured the major commitment on behalf of the federal government during this year’s edition of the ARE Energy Access Investment Forum (EAIF), which was held in Lagos between May 21 and 23.
The deal would guarantee the construction of mini-grids nationwide, particularly in unserved and underserved communities.
ARE is also committed to enhancing renewable energy for SMEs and enabling the clean and just energy transition across Nigeria through a new MoU with the Nigerian Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency (SMEDAN), guided by principles of sustainability, impact, and efficiency.
Reports say ARE and its partners announced the Partnership for Responsible Battery and Metal Recycling (ProBaMet) initiative, supported by GIZ, which focuses on lead-acid battery recycling from renewable energy projects. ARE also reiterated its commitment to supporting renewable energy workforce development across Africa through the Cornerstone of Rural Electrification (CORE) initiative.
EAIF 2024 is the premier marketplace for discovering new decentralized renewable energy (DRE) products and services and conducting business.
The Forum’s delegates, which included more than 650 in-person participants and over 2,200 registrations, included private and public financiers, government officials, and private sector companies.
Speaking on behalf of the government, Abba Abubakar Aliyu, REA’s Managing Director, said: “The EAIF has been a great opportunity for the REA to showcase its impact footprint on sustainable energy access. Most importantly, however, the Forum has allowed us to crystallize new partnerships while mainstreaming the new growth path of the nation’s nation’s space. At the REA, we remain committed to exploring innovative technologies and people-centered models in the DRE ecosystem.”
EAIF 2024 served as a platform to deliberate on the Nigeria Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up (DARES) project managed by REA.
This project aims to provide new or improved electricity access to over 17.5 million Nigerians using DRE solutions, backed by EUR 700 million (USD 750 million) in financing from the World Bank. This initiative will leverage innovative financing to enhance private sector-led clean electricity provision nationwide.
The event once more demonstrated ARE’sARE’s role as the federating association for the DRE sector and its commitment to supporting a thriving and growing DRE market in Africa through market acceleration, enhanced access to finance, innovation, and technology, and embedding sustainability as the foundation of electrification efforts.
TimesNow.com.ng previously reported that the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) approved an increase in electricity tariffs for Band A consumers on Wednesday, March 3, 2024.
NERC’s Vice Chairman, Musiliu Oseni, said this category will pay N225/kWh of electricity, an increase from the the previous rate of N66/kWh.
According to the NERC boss, Band A consumers receive about 16-20 hours of electricity daily, while Band C users get between 12 to 16 hours of electricity daily.
Source: TimesNow.com.ng
