Enugu obtains $200m investment for 100MW solar power project

Enugu has secured a $200 million investment to develop a 100-megawatt (MW) solar power project to improve electricity supply to homes and businesses across the State.

The investment was announced in a meeting between Governor Peter Mbah and a delegation from Eauxwell Nigeria Ltd led by its Managing Director, Edwin Enwegbara, at the Government House in Enugu on Thursday.

Estimated at about N300 billion, the proposed project will combine distributed solar generation with battery storage to provide more reliable electricity to households, agricultural processors, small businesses and other enterprises.

Mbah said the state’s objective went beyond attracting investment, emphasising the need to establish an electricity market that delivers reliable and affordable power to consumers.

The Governor noted that the tariff assumptions and financial model presented by the investors required further review to balance investors’ need to recover their costs with the ability of households and businesses to pay for electricity.

“The Enugu State Government has secured a $200 million dollar investment for the development of a 100-megawatt (MW) solar power aimed at improving electricity supply to homes and businesses across the state,” a report by NAN reads in part.

Mbah called for a shorter implementation timeline and pledged government support to remove bureaucratic and institutional bottlenecks that could delay the project.

Enwegbara said the final electricity tariff would be determined in consultation with regulators, balancing investors’ cost recovery with affordability.

He added that the project’s solar generation and battery storage systems would support households, agricultural processors and small businesses.

Head of the Nigeria Electrification Programme at the Rural Electrification Agency (REA),  Olutemi Akinyelure, joined virtually to explain the structure, objectives and implementation of the Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up (DARES) programme.