Govt, REA Partner To Scale Up Solar Power Projects Deployment In Katsina
By SUNDAY ABBA, Abuja
Katsina State and the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) kick-starting a long-term strategic relationship for scaling the deployment of decentralised solar power generation and distribution projects in the state through the REA’s Renewable Service Companies (RESCOs).
On Thursday the 24th of October 2024, REA in collaboration with the Katsina State Government and the Katsina State Enterprise Development Agency, KASEDA, convened a knowledge-driven and solution-focused Roundtable with active stakeholders in the nation’s energy sector, including RESCOs.
The MoU enables the REA to deepen support to the State Government, ensuring successful planning, implementation and post-implementation of the electrification projects targeted at unserved and the under-served communities, energy solutions to MSMEs (Medium and Small Scale Enterprises) in the state in facilitation of private sector investment as well as capacity building for Katsina State local stakeholders.
A statement made available to SUMMT POST by the Information and Public Relations officer in the agency, Ibrahim Muntari, on Friday explained that the Roundtable which held in Abuja served as a platform for REA to mainstream its programmes and data-driven initiatives to critical stakeholders, while charting a new course for improved investment, manpower development, sustainability and technology optimisation in the clean energy sector.
The nation’s new legislation, the 2023 Electricity Act, as well as the National Electrification and Strategy Implementation Plan (NESIP), has further opened up opportunities for collaborative engagements targeted at the federal government’s Renewed Hope Agenda for social and economic growth for all Nigerians, the statement noted.
During the occassion, Executive Governor of Katsina State Mallam Dikko Umaru Radda reaffirmed his leadership’s commitment “to improve the lives and livelihood of indigenes of the state through optimisation of renewable energy solutions to power businesses, homes and communities.
He explained that beyond powering businesses through KASEDA, “the State is powering dreams and aspirations of Nigeria MSMEs, which are the backbone of the economy”.
“With the support of the REA, we can achieve energy sufficiency, drive MSME development, and uplift the lives of our people. Our ongoing wind energy project in the State is a promising initiative, and we are eager to concession it. To expedite this process, we will rely on the REA’s active role in providing technical advice and support to ensure the concession is concluded efficiently.
The Governor, assured the Renewable Energy Service Companies (RESCOs) of his administration’s commitment to ameliorating the sector’s pain points, while derisking the business landscape in Katsina for wider investments.
While setting the tone ahead of the conversations at the Roundtable, the Managing Director/CEO of REA, Abba Abubakar Aliyu, explained that “the REA has sustained its efforts on sector coordination, while exploiting data-driven strategies for renewable energy scale-up across Nigeria”.
He added that “it has become important that the energy ecosystem in state governments are reinvigorated to fast-track the delivery of energy access interventions, nurture an enabling environment for private sector investments and strengthen the linkage between the States and RESCOs within the context of the Electricity Act”.
The REA MD emphasised the central role of clean energy in the sustainability of MSMEs, assuring the governor of the agency’s readiness to catalyse investments in the energy sector while delivering the objectives of the Distributed Energy through Renewable Energy Scale-up (DARES) programme.
The Director General of KASEDA Hajiya Aisha Aminu Abdullahi-Malumfashi, while re-echoing the governor’s message, explained that “KASEDA has refocused its strategy towards powering MSMEs sustainably to drive youth participation in entrepreneurship”.
She emphasised the central role of clean, sustainable energy in the acceleration of the State’s business climate, adding that “the Roundtable with the REA came at a critical time when KASEDA was exploring a range of result-oriented programmes and initiatives in line with the futuristic ideas of the governor, targeted at shaping the energy access landscape in Katsina State”.
The REA is an implementing agency of the federal government under the Federal Ministry of Power, tasked with the electrification of unserved and underserved communities to catalyse economic growth and improve quality of life for Nigerians.
It’s currently implementing the Rural Electrification Fund (RE), Capital Projects, Nigeria Electrification Project (NEP), Solar Power Naija (SPN), Energizing Education Programme, EEP, Energizing Economies Initiative (EEI) among several other programmes.