TheCable

The Rural Electrification Agency (REA) says over one million Nigerians have benefitted from the  solar home systems initiative of the federal government.

In a series of Twitter posts, the agency said about 200,000 units of the solar systems have been installed across the country.

It added that over 75,000 units will be deployed in the next two years with the introduction of additional seven companies in the programme meant to close the energy access gap in Nigeria.

“As we continue to leverage the Solar Home Systems (SHS) technology to improve energy access across the nation, we achieved another milestone today under the Nigeria Electrification Project (NEP) as 6 companies signed onto the Output-Based Fund (OBF) at the #REAHQ, Abuja,” the REA said.

“The SHS component has been one of the best performing components in the programme, with about 200,000 SHS units so far deployed, impacting over 1million lives.

“With these additional companies signing onto the Grant, over 75, 000 units will be equitably deployed in the next 24 months across the 6 geo-political zones.

“The OBF Grant Agreements signed with the 6 companies today will enable the deployment of about 75,953 SHS units in the next 24 months.

“The SHS component under the Nigeria Electrification Project (NEP) is helping to provide affordable energy services to unserved and underserved households and MSMEs within the Country.”

As we continue to leverage the Solar Home Systems (SHS) technology to improve energy access across the nation, we achieved another milestone today under the Nigeria Electrification Project (NEP) as 6 companies signed onto the Output-Based Fund (OBF) at the #REAHQ, Abuja. pic.twitter.com/CmPBDNCL5s

— REA Nigeria (@realREANigeria) May 19, 2021

In 2020, the federal government launched the $200 million initiative under the Nigeria Electrification Project (NEP) to provide off-grid energy to rural communities across the country.

The government noted that about 25 million Nigerians, who are expected to pay N4,000 monthly, will benefit from the solar home systems.