- FG, through the World Bank, is providing solar systems for Abia state residents.
- The initiative aims to electrify five million Nigerian households.
Through the World Bank and the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC), the Federal Government has begun the installation of solar systems for residents in Abia state. The initiative was introduced to grant a 24-hour uninterrupted power supply through solar energy for five million households in Nigeria.
According to NDPHC representative Chinonso Ugwueke, an Engineer who led the team for the solar power installation to Abia, the lawmaker representing Aba South State constituency in the Abia State House of Assembly, Obinna Ichita, who attracted the project to Abia, had already paid for 3,000 solar systems that would be installed in people’s homes within his constituency free of charge.
At the installation, Ibrahim Usman, Regional Manager of A-Solar Systems, the firm in charge of the installations, said that the initiative was in line with the Sustainable Development Goal Seven (SDG7). He noted that the target was to deliver affordable and accessible electricity to rural and semi-urban communities not connected to the national grid.
Speaking at the event, Hon. Ichita emphasised that renewable energy had the potential to meet the energy needs of rural communities, especially at a time the national grid had almost collapsed. He said it would provide an opportunity for “unserved and underserved” communities in his constituency to overcome their power challenge through solar energy. The lawmaker explained that the World Bank, in conjunction with the Central Bank, Rural Electrification Agency and other stakeholders, were behind the project.