Nigeria raises $1.7b W’Bank, AfDB credits for renewable energy

Targets electrification of 3,700 out of 46,100 primary health centres

Nigeria is planning to deploy renewable energy with a $1.7 billion worth of support from the World Bank, African Development Bank and a new $250 million facility from the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

This comes as the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), yesterday, in Abuja said over 3,700 primary healthcare facilities would be electrified along agricultural facilities under a new project called e-H.E.A.R.T.

Speaking at the REA workshop on Energising Partnerships for Sustainable Energy Access and Innovation, the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, said the €161 million being invested in upgrading of power substations under the Presidential Power Initiative (PPI) would deliver an additional 150MW to the grid, while impacting 14 existing substations and establishing 21 new ones.

Nigeria had secured a $750 million finance from the World Bank earlier this year and another $700 million funding through the African Development Bank as the agency hoped to raise additional $1.1 billion from the private sector through the existing funding.

Adelabu said the kick-off of the Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up (DARES) programme, where World Bank had committed $750 million, would power 13 million Nigerians.

“We have been tasked with a national call. Unlike many nations that focus solely on carbon emission reduction for environmental sustainability, we face the dual imperative of expanding energy access while transitioning to a low-carbon economy. This dual challenge has shaped our approach. It demands that we prioritise decentralised solutions, which are faster to deploy and more adaptable to the realities of unserved and underserved areas,” he said.

Managing Director of REA, Abba Aliyu, said there was a nationwide political commitment to advancing renewable energy to improve electricity access. He noted that Renewable Energy Service Companies (RESCOs) were currently thriving in the country with access to private sector funding.

Executive Director, Rural Electrification Fund, Doris Uboh, said the success of the e-HEART Project relied on a robust approach to identify, assess, and mitigate risks across technical, financial, social, operational, and regulatory dimensions and implementing mitigation strategies.

She expressed concerns over the risks to the project, especially delayed funding, revenue shortfalls, and foreign exchange fluctuations, which can impact financial stability.

Uboh noted that system failures and poor design posed technical challenges, while logistical delays and low energy utilisation hindered project efficiency. She also identified community resistance and poor buy-in as issues that might further obstruct implementation, and policy changes or political instability may add layers of uncertainty. She, however, sees the project as a game changer in the powering of communities from Rural Electrification Fund.