The Rural Electrification Agency (REA) has signed grant agreements with nine renewable energy companies to provide electricity access to 17.5 million Nigerians. The signing, which took place on Monday in Abuja, marks the first under the World Bank-funded Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-Up (DARES) project, launched in 2024.
The beneficiary companies are: Privida Power Limited, Baobab Plus, Salpha Energy, Asolar, NTA-StarTimes, A4&T Power Solutions, Sunking Greenlight Planet, Bboxx, and D.Light.
According to the REA, this initiative contributes to Mission 300, a global campaign to deliver electricity to 300 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2030, aligning with Nigeria’s goal of achieving universal electricity access.
REA Managing Director, Abba Aliyu, said the project will deploy 1,350 mini-grids and 1.6 million solar home systems across underserved communities to reach the targeted 17.5 million Nigerians.
Aliyu explained that the initiative consists of two major components:
- Mini-grid deployment (both isolated and interconnected)
- Solar Home System (SHS) rollout.
So far, 198 sites have been identified, with expectations of generating 340,000 new electricity connections and adding 47 megawatts of clean power to the national grid.
“Privida Power Limited alone will deploy solar mini-grids across 11 communities in Kogi State, delivering over 2.5 megawatts of reliable energy and creating 11,000 new connections,” Aliyu said. “The eight other companies will distribute solar home systems to households and MSMEs in rural areas nationwide.”
He noted that the initiative supports the government’s broader efforts under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda to tackle electricity challenges across the country.
“The 18 million Nigerians without access to electricity will soon become a statistic of the past,” he stated. “Today’s signing is more than a contract—it’s a commitment to communities long underserved by conventional infrastructure.”
Olufemi Akinyelure, Head of the Nigeria Electrification Programme (NEP), highlighted the broader societal impact of the project.
“Every connection under DARES opens the door to education, healthcare, commerce, and inclusion,” he said. “The 11,027 new connections planned under the Privida project alone represent transformed lives and an energized future.”
He added that DARES serves as a model for achieving Nigeria’s national electrification goals, providing targeted support to catalyze the off-grid energy market. Speaking on behalf of the participating companies, Mr. William Akalume, Group CEO of Privida Power Limited, reaffirmed their dedication to the project’s success.
“We are committed to this mission and applaud REA for their impactful work in transforming the energy landscape for millions of Nigerians,” he said.
 has signed grant agreements with nine renewable energy companies to provide electricity access to..,){kind=link}