REA SIGNS 7 ADDITIONAL GRANT AGREEMENTS WITH SHS DISTRIBUTORS TO INCREASE ELECTRICITY ACCESS TO NIGERIAN HOMES & MSMES
The Standalone Solar Home Systems (SHS) component under the Nigeria Electrification Project (NEP) has continued to gain prominence as Distributors have consistently leveraged the programme’s Output Based Fund (OBF) subcomponent to deploy SHS Units to Nigerian homes and micro, small and medium enterprises equitably across the country.

The number of companies signed into the SHS portfolio have risen over the last 24 months. On the 5th of October, 2021, 7 additional SHS companies signed Grant Agreements at the Headquarters of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) in Abuja, increasing the portfolio strength from 25 to 32.

In her opening remarks, the Head, Project Management Unit, Anita Otubu stated that the OBF grant mechanism has proven highly effective in bridging the electrification gap as it is designed to provide fixed incentive grants of up to 20% of the cost of the system to the grantees per eligible system installed and verified. She also highlighted that applications for the OBF are on a rolling basis until all funds assigned to the component are exhausted.

Engr. Ahmad Salihijo Ahmad, the MD/CEO of REA, while congratulating these companies at the grant agreement signing, encouraged representatives of the 7 SHS companies to optimise the NEP–OBF to improve energy access in homes across Nigeria using renewable technology.

The MD/CEO, also emphasised REA’s to commitment to collaborating with the private companies in order to secure a better future as electricity remains a major catalyst to the country’s development.
He expressed that working with private sector players and developers within the renewable energy off-grid sector, will continue to transform the energy space and improve access to energy in Nigeria.

Click here to see photos from the signing