FG begins 37 solar mini-grids in Zamfara to power 125,106 connections
- The Rural Electrification Agency has started work on 37 solar mini-grids across seven Zamfara council areas.
- Officials say the projects will add about 18.8MWp and reach 125,106 planned connections.
- Zamfara also unveiled its electricity policy and signed a deal to solarise public institutions.
Work has begun on 37 solar mini-grids in Zamfara State, a project the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) says will add about 18.8 megawatts-peak of solar generation and reach 125,106 planned connections.
The mini-grids — two linked systems and 35 stand-alone ones — will serve Gummi, Gusau, Kaura Namoda, Maradun, Shinkafi, Tsafe and Zurmi local government areas. The groundbreaking held on Wednesday.
For residents of these areas, the promise is simple: fewer hours on generators and candles, and more power for shops, clinics, schools and farms. The REA's managing director, Dr Abba Aliyu, said the connections could reach more than 625,000 people if an average of five people share each connection, though the final figure depends on the mix of homes, businesses and public facilities.
What else was announced
At the same event, Zamfara Governor Dauda Lawal unveiled the state's electricity policy and signed an agreement with the REA to solarise public institutions such as hospitals and schools.
Lawal said the policy is meant to build a structured electricity market that attracts private investors, adding that reliable power is central to farming, industry, healthcare, education and job creation.
Power Minister Joseph Tegbe, who commissioned two solar mini-grids built by the state, said the federal government will keep backing states that are developing their own electricity markets. The commissioned projects are a 1MW mini-grid at Yariman Bakura Specialist Hospital and a 1.2MW system at the Government House, with more than 3MW of battery storage between them.
Also unveiled were 100 ZamTaxi electric vehicles, 10 electric tricycles for maternal health services, and two buses donated under the Presidential Initiative on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG).
Aliyu said the agency's wider national target, under the World Bank-backed $750 million Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up (DARES) programme, is to reach about 17.5 million Nigerians and support roughly 1,350 mini-grids.
What happens next
The REA and the state will now move from ceremony to construction, with the solarisation agreement setting the framework for powering government facilities. How quickly homes and businesses are actually connected will depend on how the projects are built and financed.
