Nigeria’s Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, has announced plans to inject an additional 5 megawatts of solar energy into the national power mix through the Federal Government’s Rural Electrification Agency (REA).
The minister made the disclosure on Wednesday during the commissioning of a 504-kilowatt interconnected mini-grid project in Epe, Lagos State.
According to him, the newly unveiled mini-grid is expected to strengthen electricity supply in the country by complementing the national grid, which currently delivers between 3,700MW and 4,700MW to over 250 million Nigerians.
Tegbe described the Interconnected Mini-Grid Acceleration Scheme as one of the most innovative renewable energy programmes being implemented by the federal government, aimed at expanding access to reliable and sustainable electricity.
He stressed that decentralised renewable energy systems remain critical to improving power reliability, especially in underserved communities, while reducing pressure on the national grid.
“The commissioning of this 504kW interconnected mini-grid marks another important milestone in our collective effort to provide reliable and sustainable electricity for productive use,” he said.
He further revealed that the Rural Electrification Agency is already working towards deploying an additional 5MW of renewable energy capacity within Epe and surrounding economic clusters, citing the area’s rising industrial and residential energy demand.