49,000 homes get electricity from SolarNigeria in three months

A programme funded by the United Kingdom’s Depart­ment for International De­velopment has provided solar en­ergy to 49,000 homes across the country, SolarNigeria, has said.

The group in a statement yes­terday in Abuja said the homes ac­quired solar lighting and power sys­tems in the first three months this year with help from SolarNigeria.

The initiative is an innovative programme that helps solar suppli­ers and financiers scale up and al­low households to access this equip­ment on full commercial terms.

To further get to more homes, SolarNigeria said the UKAID has approved additional £16.7 million for the programme to help scale the market for solar home light­ing and power in Nigeria through to 2020, enabling millions of Nige­rian households to experience reli­able power for the very first time.

According to Genevieve Bosah, Communication Manager, Solar­Nigeria, “these homes now enjoy bright light and reliable power at lower cost than kerosene and gen­erators. More than 14,000 of the homes benefitting are in Nigeria’s northern states, where grid defi­ciencies

 

 and the need for reliable power are the most acute. All sys­tems were accessed on full com­mercial terms, with the householder paying cash, taking a loan, or rent­ing the equipment”.

She explained that the “boost represents a dramatic increase in Nigeria’s household solar market. In 2015, the estimated total mar­ket was around 130,000 units. Be­tween January and March 2016, new homes connected as a result of the SolarNigeria initiative have already matched over 40 percent of that total.

“This was achieved despite the significant challenges of limited ac­cess to foreign exchange for import­ing solar, and the overall declining economic conditions in the country. These high quality plug-and-play solar systems include everything from single bright lamps through to Solar Home Systems able to power multiple lights, a television and fan”, she added.

The solar systems were provided to Nigerian households by compa­nies supported by the SolarNigeria Programme. The aim of the Solar­Nigeria Programme is to scale up the private market for small solar lighting and power systems, Bo­sah stated.

Funded by UKAID, SolarNige­ria will help millions of Nigerian households (and micro-enterpris­es) to access modern, clean, lighting and power at lower cost than kero­sene lanterns and small generators.

She said SolarNigeria is helping capable solar vendors and financiers to rapidly expand their capacity to reach consumers with financed so­lar solutions. Pilot programmes in 2015 provided capacity building grants of £1.5 million to 16 com­panies.

In 2016 a financing pilot will pro­vide £0.5 million in grants to mo­bilise the provision of commer­cial finance into the value chain for household scale solar light and power systems, she explained fur­ther.