KEY POINTS
- Nigeria’s Rural Electrification Agency inaugurated a 581kWp interconnected solar mini-grid in Oke-Oyi, Kwara State, built by Nayo Tropical Technologies with EU and German (GIZ) support.
- The system, comprising 1,336 panels, 84 batteries and about 10km of cabling, serves an estimated 13,000 residents and has spurred welding, milling, water, aluminium and cold-storage businesses.
- Power Minister Joseph Tegbe and REA chief Abubakar Aliyu framed it as a productivity investment, stressing maintenance and partnership for lasting community benefit.
Nigeria’s Federal Government, through the Rural Electrification Agency, has inaugurated a 581kWp interconnected solar mini-grid in the Oke-Oyi community of Kwara State, part of a drive to widen electricity access and spark economic activity in underserved areas.
Nayo Tropical Technologies developed the project under the Rural Electrification Fund’s Interconnected Mini-Grid Acceleration Scheme. Specifically, German Cooperation and the European Union backed the work through the development agency GIZ. Moreover, the plant pairs 1,336 solar panels with 84 batteries, roughly 10 kilometres of distribution cables and supporting transformers.
Powering homes and businesses
The mini-grid already serves an estimated 13,000 residents. Notably, connections now reach both households and productive users, turning reliable power into a spur for local enterprise. According to the government, new ventures have sprung up since commissioning, including 12 welding businesses, two water companies, four grain mills, four aluminium workshops, an ice-block operation and a cold-room fish depot.
Power Minister Joseph Tegbe framed the scheme as an investment in productivity. According to Tegbe, electrification ultimately exists to improve lives and create opportunities, enabling welders, millers and other businesses to grow. Furthermore, he stressed the need to maintain completed projects so communities keep benefiting over the long term.
Partnership and sustainability
Officials cast the launch as proof of collaboration. According to REA chief executive Abubakar Aliyu, the real measure of a project is the opportunity reliable power creates, not just the infrastructure commissioned. Additionally, the German Embassy’s Karin Jansen said the effort showed what government, developers, utilities and communities can achieve together.
Kwara Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, represented by the state assembly speaker, welcomed the project as a boost to enterprise and jobs. Meanwhile, construction created temporary work for painters, welders, bricklayers and other local laborers. Ultimately, the government positioned Oke-Oyi as a template for expanding renewable power to unserved communities nationwide.
