The Rural Electrification Agency (REA) says it completed and deployed over 200 mini-grids across the country under the Nigeria Electrification Project (NEP) between January and December, providing electricity to underserved communities nationwide.
The Managing Director of REA, Alhaji Abba Abubakar-Aliyu, disclosed this during a media briefing in Kano while reviewing the agency’s achievements in 2025.
He described the completion of the NEP as a major milestone in efforts to bridge Nigeria’s electricity access gap and improve power supply reliability, in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
Abubakar-Aliyu said the agency recorded significant progress in renewable energy deployment during the year, highlighting the approval of the 750 million-dollar Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-Up (DARES) project by the President.
According to him, the DARES project is designed to deploy 1,350 mini-grids nationwide, including 250 interconnected mini-grids, to provide electricity to about 17.5 million Nigerians.
“We are currently building over 900 mini-grids across the country, with a target of 1,350,” he said.
The REA boss also disclosed that the agency engaged 21 states through state-by-state roundtable meetings, describing the initiative as unprecedented. He said the engagements provided states with critical data, partnership frameworks and insights into ongoing electrification projects.
He added that REA completed a nationwide electrification mapping exercise, which identified more than 150,000 communities without electricity or with unreliable power supply, to enable the adoption of least-cost electrification solutions.
Abubakar-Aliyu further revealed that the agency completed 15 mega hybrid mini-grid projects in federal universities and commenced project development in eight additional universities, expected to be completed by March or April 2026.
He noted that REA also promoted localisation of renewable energy manufacturing, increasing Nigeria’s manufacturing capacity from about 120 megawatts to over 600 megawatts.
According to him, investments exceeding 435 million dollars have been secured for new renewable energy manufacturing plants in Lagos, Akwa Ibom, Kano and Abuja.
He added that Nigeria has begun exporting locally manufactured solar panels to Ghana, following a reduction in the importation of finished photovoltaic panels.
Looking ahead, Abubakar-Aliyu said the agency would focus in 2026 on completing the 1,350 mini-grids under the DARES project, while mobilising additional funding.
“The country requires about 23 billion dollars to fully address the electricity access challenge,” he said.
He reaffirmed REA’s commitment to delivering sustainable power solutions to rural and underserved communities across Nigeria.