REA Expects Further $1.1bn Investment for New Mini Power Grids

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Managing Director of the Rural Electrification Agency, (REA), Mr Abba Aliyu, is poised to attract an estimated $1.1 billion in additional private-sector investment to further achieve the agency’s targets.

He said that the organisation has received a $750 million funding in 2024 through the World Bank funded Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up (DARES) project.

He added that this capital is specifically intended to act as a springboard to attract an estimated $1.1 billion in additional private-sector investment, with the ultimate goal of providing electricity access to roughly 17.5 million Nigerians through 1,350 new mini grids.

Mr Aliyu also said that the Nigeria Electrification Project (NEP) has already led to the electrification of 1.1 million households across more than 200 mini grids and the delivery of hybrid power solutions to 15 federal institutions.

According to a statement, this followed Mr Aliyu’s high-level inspection of Vsolaris facilities in Lagos, adding that the visit also served as a platform for the REA to highlight its decentralized electrification strategy, which relies on partnering with firms capable of managing local assembly and highefficiency project execution.

The federal government, through the REA, underscored the critical role the partnership with the private sector plays in achieving Nigeria’s ambitious off-grid energy targets and ending energy poverty.

Mr Aliyu emphasized that while public funds serve as a catalyst, the long-term sustainability of Nigeria’s power sector rests on credible private developers who are willing to invest their own resources.

He noted that public funds are intentionally deployed as catalytic grants to ensure that the private sector maintains skin in the game which he believes is the only way to guarantee true accountability and the survival of these projects over time.