- REA has launched RAMCO to professionally manage and sustain publicly funded renewable energy assets in universities and teaching hospitals across Nigeria.
- The initiative will introduce sustainable tariffs, maintenance funding and professional asset management to prevent renewable energy projects from deteriorating after commissioning.
The Rural Electrification Agency (REA) has launched the Renewable Asset Management Company (RAMCO) to manage and sustain publicly funded renewable energy assets in universities and teaching hospitals across Nigeria.
REA Managing Director Abba Aliyu announced the initiative on Wednesday, August 26, 2026 in Abuja during RAMCO’s official launch. He said the agency established the company to address the persistent challenge of maintaining renewable energy infrastructure after project delivery. Dr. Aliyu said REA has deployed 82 megawatts of solar hybrid generation capacity across 22 federal universities and three teaching hospitals since 2017 under its Energising Education Programme.
However, an assessment of seven projects delivered during the programme’s first phase showed that only three remained in good or usable condition. “At one institution, the required special purpose vehicle had been established, but no single revenue is collected from the sale of the electricity being generated by that infrastructure,” he said.
Aliyu said the projects deteriorated not because of engineering failures but because institutions lacked sustainable maintenance arrangements, reliable revenue mechanisms and dedicated organisations responsible for preserving the assets throughout their economic lives.
He said RAMCO would provide REA’s institutional response to the challenge by professionally managing publicly financed renewable energy assets, contracting competent operators, metering, billing and collecting payments, and maintaining equipment.
REA launched the initiative in collaboration with the Ministry of Power, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MoFI), Budget Office of the Federation and Infrastructure Corporation of Nigeria (InfraCo). “RAMCO’s mandate is straightforward: manage publicly financed renewable energy assets professionally; contract competent operators; meter, bill and collect; maintain sustainability of all this equipment,” Aliyu said.
He said the company would also establish a funding mechanism to replace components such as batteries and inverters when they reach the end of their useful lives. “If a battery or inverter requires replacement, we shouldn’t return to the Ministry of Finance. We should be able to have an economic fund to replace that battery or inverter. The money should already be there, and the deployment has to start today,” he said.
Dr. Aliyu stressed that RAMCO would not seek to make profits from institutions where the government had already funded the capital assets. Instead, the company would ensure that tariffs cover the costs of operating, maintaining and renewing the systems. “The government has funded this asset, REA has built them, but the beneficiary institution must contribute to sustaining them by paying for the electricity they consume,” he said.
Dr. Aliyu cited the solar plant at Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ebonyi State, which REA commissioned in 2019 and which serves more than 9,500 staff and students. He said the plant generated about N1.8 billion in combined savings from avoided diesel purchases and electricity bills during its first five years while preventing approximately 2,367 tonnes of carbon emissions. “This is a sustainability tariff. It’s not simply a new exposure or burden on the universities. It is just a simple redirection of part of what that institution would otherwise spend on expensive diesel or pay for electricity,” he said.
Aliyu said the model would reduce reliance on repeated government appropriations for renewable energy infrastructure and create a platform for attracting private capital. He added that professionally managed renewable energy assets with predictable revenues could eventually be aggregated and financed to support additional electrification projects.
The REA MD also disclosed that the agency had partnered with MoFI and InfraCo to support local manufacturing of solar modules, batteries, inverters, street lighting equipment and solar asset recycling. He said stakeholders had invested $425 million in the manufacturing cycle as of last year.
Aliyu said REA would conclude the valuation and technical assessment of existing assets, transfer them to the RAMCO partnership and establish operation and maintenance arrangements for projects under the Energising Education Programme. He added that the agency would engage beneficiary institutions, the National Universities Commission, the Ministries of Education and Health, and the Budget Office to establish accountable tariff and payment arrangements.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Ministry of Finance Incorporated backed the initiative and recalled that poor maintenance had caused several Federal Government projects to deteriorate after completion. He said MoFI had developed a national asset register covering Federal Government projects that officials had inspected, verified and evaluated. He urged the Federal Government to carry universities along in the implementation of the RAMCO initiative to ensure effective tariff payment and the long-term sustainability of the assets.