The Rural Electrification Agency (REA) has signed an agreement for N1.952 billion grants to 26 private sector developers to provide off-grid electricity to rural areas.
The Managing Director of REA, Mrs Damilola Ogunbiyi during the signing ceremony at the REA headquarters in Abuja yesterday said, the grant was from the Rural Electrification Fund (REF).
The REF covers off-grid projects comprising Solar Home Systems (SHS), Mini Grid and Under the Grid projects. Some of the developers said they could deploy the energy solution within three weeks in Kebbi and Ogun State as they were already at the sites.
Among the 109 bidders, 35 moved to the next stage while 26 were successful, a record showed.
The project has 12 mini-grid projects and the developers with N956.9 million grants. About N995.6m grant was awarded to 14 other developers for the Solar Home Systems (SHS) projects.