NEWS

A hybrid 90kW minigrid has been inaugurated in the Gbangba community in Nigeria. The minigrid will provide clean and reliable power to over 300 customers.

With this minigrid, ENGIE Energy Access connects the people of Gbangba community in Niger State to an electric power supply for the first time ever and empowers over 300 customers, comprising households and micro and small enterprises (MSEs).

The minigrid directly impacts more than 1,500 people by providing them with affordable, reliable and clean electricity.

Vanguard reports that the minigrid was formally inaugurated by Governor Abubakar Sani Bello of Niger State and Ambassador of France to Nigeria, Emmanuelle Blatmann, during an event attended by dignitaries from the Nigerian government, power sector, traditional institutions, youth, media and local community.

Speaking at the launch Bankole Cardoso, Managing Director of ENGIE Energy Access Nigeria, said the country’s electricity challenge remains a huge gap that needs to be filled in its journey to fulfill its full potential as a nation.

Cardoso said the construction of the Gbangba mini-grid demonstrates how private investment can help to address the infrastructure gap in the energy industry.

“This minigrid will foster socio-economic development and prosperity in the Gbangba community, its people and its neighbors. It will serve private households and commercial businesses – provision shops, grocery sellers, bakeries, mobile phone chargers etc. It will boost the productivity of farmers and food production by powering agricultural loads such as irrigation pumping and cold storage, productive loads such as grind mills and wood or metal working shops and semi-industrials such as telecom towers and processing plants,” said Cardoso.

Sub-Saharan Africa has the world’s lowest energy access rate, with more than half of its people unconnected to electricity. In Nigeria, about 43.5% of people live without access to energy. This presents an opportunity to employ grand-scale innovation and the intervention of renewable energy solutions within the electricity sector in Nigeria.