Net-zero energy company, Husk Power Systems has announced that it has doubled its fleet of solar hybrid microgrids in Nasarawa State, Nigeria.
The company says at full capacity, the 12 microgrids owned and operated by Husk, are expected to benefit more than 50,000 people. Customers are also registering at least a 30% reduction in monthly energy costs by switching from diesel to solar.
The company’s chief executive officer (CEO), Manoj Sinha, has said that Husk Power doubled its mini-grids portfolio in Nigeria in less than 12 months since the first site went live in 2021.
“Incidentally, our first set of mini-grids exceeded 40% capacity utilization in less than 12 months,” he wrote via Twitter. The first set of six microgrids was launched in November 2021.
Country Director of Husk Nigeria, Olu Aruike says the company is ready to bring energy to off-grid and weak grid areas, to achieve their economic potential.
He said, “Doubling our net-zero microgrid portfolio in less than a year is a testament to Husk’s ability to play an important role in Nigeria’s Energy Transition Plan and its goal of providing energy for all within this decade.”
Could affordability be an issue for consumers in Nasarawa communities?
A September 2022 report by energy non-profit, Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) says many commercial and industrial customers are willing and able to pay for reliable power. However, this may not be the case for unserved communities in Nasarawa State, as Nigeria is experiencing a 20.52 inflation rate as of August 2022.
The current inflation rate has increased the prices of goods and services in the country and people, especially low-income earners, are finding it hard to cope with paying for services.
In a previous chat with Nairametrics, the Head of the program management unit (PMU) at the Nigeria Electrification Project (NEP), Anita Otubu, said affordability is a consideration for microgrid operators and the NEP.
According to her, an analysis is carried out on how much people in unserved areas spend on alternative power sources prior to when Microgrids/mini-grids are set up in communities and charge them based on their purchasing power. She says the analysis makes it easy to come up with a tariff that makes sense to them and they are able and willing to pay for it.
What you should know
- Husk Power Systems was founded in 2008 but started operating in Nigeria in 2020.
- The company accounts for about 15% of the microgrids commissioned under the World Bank-funded Nigeria Electrification Project (NEP), a unit under the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) that is working to scale private sector solar microgrids.
- Husk has introduced appliance sales to the communities served by its microgrids, for both household and productive uses (such as health centers, water purification, and agro-processing).
- Husk Power is on track to complete about 20 sites in Nigeria by the start of 2023.
- Husk Power says it has developed a pipeline of nearly 100 additional microgrids for future development in Nigeria.
