Schneider Electric, along with Green Village Electricity Projects Limited, Arnergy Solar Limited and the Bank of Industry Nigeria Limited, has commissioned low-cost off-grid solar energy solutions for rural communities in Nigeria
Schneider Electric country president for Anglophone West Africa Walid Sheta said, “We believe access to energy is a basic human right. We want homes in Nigeria to have access to reliable, safe, efficient, and sustainable energy.”
Six Nigerian states are set to benefit from these plants – Gombe, Kaduna, Anambra, Delta, Osun and Niger. The upcoming systems will supply power to around 200 clients in each of the communities through a two kilometre-long 230VAC, 50Hz mini-grid electricity distribution network.
The power grid is expected to benefit 7,000 Nigerians directly, while another 500 will stand to gain as cottage businesses and streetlights will also be connected to the grid.
In addition to providing power to several residents, the project will also create around a little more than US$25,000 in wealth in each of the beneficiary communities, through construction, survey, labour and infrastructure expenditure, added GVE Project managing director Ifeanyi B Orajaka.
Once online, the project will offset an estimated 1,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually in the communities, he added.
