Universal Energy Facility provides grants to solar projects across Nigeria under the Stand-Alone Solar for Productive Usage initiative
Renewable energy enterprises that apply to have their projects financed as part of the facility’s Stand-alone Solar for Productive Use programme in Nigeria will get grants from the Universal Energy Facility (UEF), a results-based financing facility run by Sustainable Energy for Everyone.
These enterprises will now start building their proposed solar projects, all of which aim to give businesses and services access to a clean, reasonably priced, and dependable electricity supply.
Throughout the following 12 months, these projects, which will cover the majority of Nigeria’s states, will be finished. Together, they will link over 3,500 establishments, including shops, markets, malls, cold-storage facilities, hospitals, schools, and other productive energy users that support local infrastructure and economic activity.
They will lessen the need for companies and services to rely on pricey, polluting fossil fuel generators as their source of power because they are standalone solar energy projects. Once all of the suggested initiatives are carried out, the UEF calculates that there will be a yearly save of about 5,400 tons of CO2 equivalent.
The Universal Energy Facility will illustrate in Nigeria through this program the enabling influence sustainable energy can have on local economic growth and climate action “the CEO and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for Everyone, Damilola Ogunbiyi, said. “The facility will support solar projects that provide businesses with clean, inexpensive electricity to help them grow, generate jobs, and replace dirty energy sources.
The Nigerian government unveiled its Energy Transition Plan last year, outlining how it will finance the country’s efforts to attain net-zero emissions by the middle of the century and universal energy access by 2030. Via incentives that businesses can use to leverage additional funding for clean energy, the UEF helps the plan reach its financial goals for the power industry.
The Universal Energy Facility would offer grants to solar entrepreneurs so they may expand into Nigeria’s small and medium-sized businesses while also attracting more private capital “said Nigerian Vice President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo. “The Universal Energy Facility-funded initiatives will assist the expansion of enterprises and the creation of jobs, making them crucial components of our plan for the energy transition.
The Nigerian government introduced its Energy “Our Universal Energy Facility plan is a real evidence of targeted investment in our power sector and in our overarching mission to give electricity access to all Nigerians,” stated Hon. Goddy Jedy Agba, Minister of State for Power of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Hundreds of energy companies expressed interest when the Stand-alone Solar for Productive Use program in Nigeria opened for applications in August 2022.
We’ve only been running this program in Nigeria for a short while, but we’ve already reached the stage where grantees have been chosen and businesses can begin developing game-changing standalone solar projects “the Universal Energy Facility’s Senior Director, Anita Otubu, said. “The Universal Energy Facility is demonstrating the value of results-based financing in accelerating large-scale energy development.
The global energy transformation must power both people and planet, providing economic opportunities and eliminating carbon-intensive technologies,” said Simon Harford, CEO of the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet. The Universal Energy Facility’s efforts to provide targeted, nation-specific solutions in those communities most impacted by energy poverty and climate change are proudly supported by the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP). The UEF has the capacity to bring people together and develop into the preferred platform for those drawn to results-based finance.
The Stand-Alone Solar for Productive Usage initiative in Nigeria’s first grant financing window. More promising initiatives have been found by the UEF for funding in upcoming waves.
