The Nigerian government has signed an MoU with a consortium consisting of Nigeria-based Nigus Greenergy and South African Volt Renewables for the development of three solar power plants with a total capacity of 300MW
The three power plants are expected to add 100MW capacity each to the national grid in the northern states of Nigeria at Yola, Andamawa State, Kano, Kano State and Birnin, Kebbi State.
Upon completion, this new power generation will represent as much as 10 per cent for the country’s total generation, a statement by the companies said.
Prince Malik Ado-Ibrahim of Nigus Greenergy said that he is committed to providing renewable energy to enable the development of the Nigerian economy particularly in the north which has a substantial deficit. “Our consortium partners believe that solar energy is the perfect solution for these states which are blessed with strong solar resources as the power plants have the ability to be commissioned quickly and on a distributed basis and can make a real difference to the local economy.”
The agreement was facilitated by the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission and will see the investment of US$600mn into the Nigerian economy.
The solar energy projects are expected to be funded by a combination of own equity from the consortium, technology providers and international private equity funders. Volt Renewables stated that it is currently in negotiations with the consortium and will announce the funders once negotiations are finalised. Financial close is expected to take place in Q4 2016.
The consortium will be collaborating with German solar inverter manufacturer, LTI ReEnergy, to supply the technology for the execution of this project.
