Nigeria’s Presidency said on Sunday that the Solar Home Systems, a massive countrywide project and component of Economic Sustsinability Plan (ESP), through which government intended to light up the nation, would commence next week.
It said that an estimated 25 million Nigerians that would benefit from the project, would be expected to pay about N4,000 monthly.
Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, confirmed this in a statement.
Titled “25m Nigerians to own 5m solar systems at N4,000 monthly,” Akande stated that the Federal Government would, from next week commence the process of installation of five million solar home systems in underserved and off-grid communities across the country.
The installation, according to him, was in continuation of the implementation of the government’s Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP).
He stated that beneficiaries woukd be expected to pay about N4,000 monthly over a period of three years.
He said the solar programme nicknamed “Solar Power Naija”, for which installations starts in December, was being implemented by the Rural Electrification Agency.
According to him “An important aspect of the scheme is the option of outright ownership by beneficiaries at a cost ranging from N1, 500 per week to N4, 000 monthly depending on the capacities, for a period of three years.”
He explained that the arrangement allowed as many as 25 million Nigerians to own personal solar systems in their homes.
He clarified that the five million connections initiative was a private sector-led electricity access acceleration scheme to be facilitated by a low-cost loan facility from the Central Bank of Nigeria and implemented by REA.
“The programme will include the assembly or manufacturing of components of off-grid solutions to facilitate the growth of the local manufacturing industry.
“In view of the scale of materials required, solar equipment manufacturers/assemblers will be incentivised to set up facilities in Nigeria, thereby offering additional job opportunities to Nigerians.
“In addition, installation, servicing and payment collections are expected to provide thousands of other jobs. In all, at least 250, 000 jobs will be created,” Akande stated.
The Solar Home System is an important component of the Buhari administration’s ESP, designed as part of measures by the Federal Government to ramp up power supply across the country by catering specifically to communities not connected to the national grid.
It is also part of the administration’s strategy to address the overall challenges and issues in the power sector as Solar is not only cheaper but also considered to be cleaner and renewable.
Apart from providing access to affordable energy, the objective of the plan is to improve social, economic and environmental welfare of 25 million Nigerians while generating jobs, increasing revenues and import substitution.
On jobs, the ESP 5m Solar installation is expected to create about 250,000 jobs including in manufacturing, assembling, installations, maintenance and payment systems.
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