The Federal Government completed a total of 1,375 rural power projects across various communities in the country, spending N45.89 billion over a three‑year period, according to the latest figures from the Rural Electrification Agency (REA). Between 2020 and 2022, the REA expanded the national power grid’s capacity, increased the number of mini‑grids, deployed solar home systems, and installed solar street lights. The agency’s 2022 Strategic Interventions report, obtained by our correspondent in Abuja on Friday, notes that “capital projects in the last three years, 2020–2022, total 1,375 in number, with a total cost of N45.89 bn.”
During the review period, the government delivered an installed capacity of 238.4 MW to the national electricity grid, benefiting 476,800 households and affecting 2.38 million people. This portion of the project cost N19.11 bn. Additionally, 67 mini‑grids were developed, providing 0.64 MW of electricity to 657.14 households (approximately 3,290 persons) at a cost of N6.35 bn. The REA also supplied 556 solar home systems, supporting 2,780 people for N1.03 bn, and installed solar street lights along 557.5 km of road at a cost of N17.96 bn.
The 2022 report outlines the agency’s interventions, including preliminary needs assessments and implementation frameworks for electrification programmes. These programmes encompassed the deployment of solar mini‑grids (high‑capacity productive use), solar water pumps for irrigation, and solar home systems (low‑capacity productive use) across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones. Before the interventions, beneficiaries faced challenges such as limited electricity and water access, high petrol consumption, security concerns, employment issues, gender inclusivity gaps, and reliance on major crops. After the interventions, an assessment measured the social, environmental, and economic impacts on the communities.
In 2022, six communities received 100‑kW solar mini‑grid systems designed to prioritize productive users, including agro‑processing businesses, homes, commercial users, and public spaces. Over 8,155 lives and 5,000 active farmers benefited from uninterrupted power and clean, affordable water, creating more than 60 direct and indirect jobs, improving security, boosting productivity, enhancing healthcare, and decommissioning over 40 diesel and petrol generators. The agency noted encouraging reductions in carbon emissions based on current and future estimates.
Furthermore, 1,392 solar irrigation pumps were distributed across the six geopolitical zones, reaching 1,300 male and 92 female beneficiaries and about 200 farm clusters. Over 11,000 lives and 6,000 farmers (including roughly 810 female farmers) were directly impacted. This impact translated into the illumination of over 170 farms with solar street lights, training for more than 3,000 farmers on pump maintenance and new irrigation practices, and significant cost savings.
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