The Rural Electrification Agency (REA) is developing 40 interconnected mini-grids that will inject an additional 288 megawatts (MW) of electricity into Nigeria’s national grid.
REA Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Abba Aliyu, disclosed this on the sidelines of the 2026 Energy Times Awards, where he received an honour.
He attributed the development to recent regulatory reforms by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), particularly the review of the mini-grid regulation, which he described as a major milestone for the renewable energy sector.
Aliyu explained that the agency engaged NERC for over two years to increase the capacity cap for isolated mini-grids and establish a dedicated framework for interconnected systems.Key highlights of the new regulation include:
Raising the cap for isolated mini-grids from 1MW to 5MW.
Introducing interconnected mini-grids with a cap of 10MW.
Harmonising licensing procedures.
Streamlining environmental and social impact assessment requirements.
“Interconnected mini-grids will play a key role in stabilising the grid and addressing the energy access gap,” Aliyu said.
He noted that the 40 interconnected mini-grids currently under development will come with battery storage, significantly boosting distributed renewable energy deployment.
“Rather than deploying just one megawatt, we can now deploy 10 times as many megawatts. This means utility-scale solar energy will start to emerge across the country,” the REA boss added.
The initiative is expected to accelerate electricity access, especially in underserved areas, while contributing to overall grid stability and reliability.
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