Nigeria’s renewable energy landscape is set for a scale-up in distributed generation as the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) says it is currently working on 288 megawatts (MW) of interconnected mini-grid projects, following a regulatory expansion by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

The Managing Director of REA, Dr Abba Aliyu, disclosed this while speaking with journalists at the Energy Times Awards 2026 held in Lagos at the weekend.

Aliyu said the agency is developing 40 interconnected mini-grid projects with a combined capacity of 288MW, supported by battery storage systems, under a revised regulatory framework that now allows higher capacity deployment and structured integration into distribution feeders.

“We are now working on 40 interconnected mini-grid that will inject 288MW of new capacity into the grid with battery storage and we could not achieve that without getting a regulatory derogation from the NERC. But now that they have created the approval so we don’t have to get the derogation approval. Everybody will now go and get a site within the feeder that can take that capacity,” he said.

He explained that the regulatory change follows sustained engagement between the REA and NERC over a two-year period, aimed at revising the mini-grid framework to reflect emerging realities in distributed energy deployment.

“So this is a great win for the renewable ecosystem. So it means that distributed renewable energy will now continue to play a significant role. Rather than now deploying 1MW, we can deploy 10MW. You have seen the interconnected mini-grid that we have started,” Aliyu said.

According to him, the previous regulatory structure, which capped isolated mini-grids at 1MW, limited scalability and required developers to seek regulatory derogations for larger or interconnected systems.

Achievement for this sector where we have been engaging NERC to review the mini-grid regulation for over two years and specifically we wanted the NERC to increase the mini-grid regulation of 1 megawatt as well as create another specific regulation for interconnected mini-grids because we have seen that in the future interconnected mini-grids will play a key role in stabilising the mini-grid and also playing a key role in addressing energy access gap,” he said.

Aliyu said the revised framework now increases the cap for isolated mini-grids from 1MW to 5MW, introduces a 5MW ceiling for interconnected mini-grids, and streamlines licensing and environmental approval processes.

“So we are happy that they have seen the reason after back and forth we exchanged over eight letters and they have seen the reason they have done the engagement with stakeholders and they have now reviewed the mini-grid and released the new one. There’s an increase in the cap of isolated mini-grid from 1 megawatt to 5 megawatt, creation of interconnected mini-grids with a cap of five megawatt harmonising the licensing process as well as streamlining the environmental social impact assessment process,” he said.

With the new framework in place, Aliyu said the REA’s ongoing 288MW pipeline signals a shift toward utility-scale distributed energy projects that can be embedded within existing distribution networks.

“It means that utility scale solar energy will now start to emerge across the country.

That’s what we are seeing,” he said.

Meanwhile, Aliyu was honoured with an Award of Excellence for transparency and efficiency in the execution of renewable energy projects at the weekend in Lagos by the Editorial Board of Energy Times.

Explaining the board’s decision, the Board Chairman, Yakubu Lawal, said the recognition was not merely ceremonial but a reflection of Aliyu’s role in reshaping Nigeria’s renewable energy architecture.

“We looked for individuals whose work continues to transform the energy landscape and improve lives across the country. Dr Aliyu’s ability to achieve an 85 per cent budget execution rate while managing multi-million dollar international facilities proves that transparency and efficiency can coexist in Nigeria’s public sector,” he said.

The board added that his leadership has been instrumental in positioning Nigeria to provide electricity access to 17.5 million Nigerians.

“The primary catalyst for this award is Aliyu’s successful negotiation and implementation of the Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up (DARES) project. Funded by a $750 million World Bank facility, it stands as the largest renewable energy project of its kind globally,” the board stated.

It added that through engagement with 21 states, Aliyu has strengthened decentralised energy planning by introducing data-driven electrification mapping.

The board also highlighted the Renewable Energy Service Company (RESCO) model as a key policy shift that has enabled local firms to scale operations within the power sector.

“His tenure has also seen a significant uptick in local manufacturing, with Nigeria now beginning to export solar panels to Ghana,” it added.