REA to commence World Bank’s $750m rural electrification project in November
The Rural Electrification Agency (REA) says it will start a new rural electricity project in November to provide electricity to 17.5 million Nigerians.
Abba Aliyu, managing director (MD) of the REA, spoke on Thursday during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme.
Aliyu said the new project, worth $750 million, is financed by the World Bank.
The MD said the new project will provide electricity for up to 17.5 million Nigerians using renewable energy sources.
“There is a new project that we are starting next month called Distributed Renewable Energy Scale-up project which is a $750 million financed by the World Bank,” Aliyu said.
“The target of that project is to electrify 17.5 million Nigerians, and I must say that this is one of the most ambitious projects in the world based on my understanding from India that has moved many unelectrified people to have access to electricity.
“Three million of them through the isolated mini-grid, 1.5 million Nigerians through the interconnected mini-grid, 12 million would be electrified using a merged grid and solar stand-alone system.”
Aliyu further said the project is estimated to last for five years and was built on successes recorded from similar projects in the past which cost $550 million and were funded by the World Bank and the African Development Bank (AfDB).
On May 22, Aliyu said the $750 million project would provide electricity to 20.1 million Nigerians.
