The Rural Electrification Agency (REA) officially inaugurated a combined 1-Megawatt (MW) solar hybrid mini-grid system on Thursday, February 12, 2026, bringing 24-hour electricity to the Rubochi and Ikwa communities in the Kuje Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Tagged the “Nigerian-Korean Energy Project,” the initiative was delivered through a strategic partnership between the REA and the Government of the Republic of Korea as an in-kind grant. The project is designed to catalyze socio-economic growth in rural Abuja, which had previously struggled with decades of unreliable power or total darkness.
The infrastructure is split between two primary sites: a 900-kilowatt-peak (kWp) facility in Rubochi and a 100kWp system in Ikwa. The Rubochi installation is particularly robust, featuring two plants: one with 300kWp capacity and another with 600kWp, supported by a total of 1,800 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of battery storage. This allows the system to provide stable, clean energy through 19 kilometers of newly deployed distribution networks, connecting over 4,000 households and various institutions across the two communities.
The Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, represented by Permanent Secretary Mahmuda Mammam, emphasized during the ceremony that the project goes beyond simple lighting. To ensure immediate “productive use” of the electricity, every connected household received lighting bulbs, switches, and sockets, while the community was provided with rice milling machines to support agricultural processing.
Additionally, a centralized energy management system was deployed at the REA headquarters in Abuja, enabling real-time monitoring and technical support for the facility’s long-term sustainability.
Local leaders have hailed the project as transformative, with the Sa’Rubochi of Rubochi, Alhaji Muhammad Ibrahim, stating that the community can now “compete with the Presidential Villa” in terms of power reliability. Since the system began its pilot operations five months ago, residents have reported increased commercial activity, extended shop hours, and improved security.
The project also serves as a hub for human capacity development, providing Nigerian engineers with access to specialized Korean software for mini-grid design and simulation, further strengthening the nation’s renewable energy expertise.
 officially inaugurated a combined 1-Megawatt (MW) solar hybrid mini-grid system on Thursday, February 12, 2026, bringing 24-hour electricity to the Rubochi and Ikwa communities in the Kuje Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).){kind=link}