Firm Pledges £13m Support For Solar Energy

Solar Nigeria Programme (SN), a programme funded by the Department For International Development (DFID) said it will provide additional grant of 13 million pounds to help reputable companies involved in solar energy in Nigeria.
Private sector co-ordinator, Mrs Ifunanya Nwandu, announced this at a revewable energy forum organsied  by “Power for All” in Abuja on Friday.
Solar Nigeria Programme began in 2014, and was designed to end in 2020 with the mandate to provide grants and technical assistance to companies involved in providing household solar technologies.
Nwandu said that the grant would help strong companies to accelerate their expansion to provide solar energy for 25 million Nigerians.
According to her, SN has also improved energy access for over 1.5 million people since it commenced operation in 2014.
She stated that the organization had been involved in delivering clean, reliable and affordable solar energy to Nigerians.
She said this was possible by accelerating the private markets for off-grid solar solutions.
According to her, by utilizing the 38.3 million pounds provided by DFID, Lagos and Kaduna State governments, the programme has delivered solar installations in 175 schools and 11 clinics in Lagos and 34 primary health clinics in Kaduna.
Nwandu said that the combined projects in both states had resulted in the provision of 6MW of solar power.
According to her, in 2016, more that 166,000 solar systems were acquired on commercial terms by individual consumers from companies who benefited from the grants provided by SN.
The co-ordinator further remarked that SN was also helping to demonstrate low solar systems that could be technically viable to drive growth in the private sector market.
She explained that SN was committed to collaborating with the Federal Government and state governments to improve renewable energy to health and education facilities, particularly in the northern part of Nigeria.