A global climate organization, supported by the Rockefeller Foundation and the Bezos Earth Fund, is piloting a solar mini-grid program in Nigeria aimed at addressing the country’s erratic power supply. According to a report by Bloomberg, the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (Geapp) plans to build pilot projects across all regions covered by Nigeria’s 11 power distribution companies, with a long-term goal of facilitating 10 gigawatts of mini-grids. These efforts build on previous initiatives to provide electricity to areas without access to the national power grid.
The program, launched in 2021 by Geapp in partnership with the Rockefeller Foundation, Bezos Earth Fund, and the Ikea Foundation, helped develop the first interconnected mini-grid in December. Currently, two additional grids are under construction, and funding for a fourth has been secured. These mini-grids, managed by private developers, aim to provide constant electricity, supplementing the limited hours of power supply from Nigeria’s national grid, which serves only 4,000 megawatts to a population of 230 million.
Geapp’s Demand Aggregation for Renewable Technology (Dart) program pools the needs of various developers to reduce the cost of solar equipment. It also operates a $25 million financing facility that allows developers to import solar equipment with loans that are repaid in local currency once revenue is generated. This cost-saving initiative has led to up to 30% savings for developers. Wakil, Geapp’s country delivery lead, highlighted that hundreds of such projects are needed across Nigeria to address the country’s energy poverty, which affects around 86 million people without access to electricity.
The success of the pilot mini-grids has attracted further support from global organizations. The World Bank has pledged $130 million to develop similar facilities, while the Mission 300 program, backed by the World Bank and African Development Bank, aims to replicate Nigeria’s mini-grid model across 15 African countries. The site in Ogun State, developed by Nigerian mini-grid company Darway Coast, is expected to provide 24-hour electricity to the local community by the end of the year, significantly improving the eight-hour power currently provided by the national distribution company.
- Tags: Mini-grid, Nigeria, Solar energy, World Bank
