Nigeria, US firm sign $10bn agreement on energy plant

Nigeria and the largest United States renewable energy company operating in Africa, Sun Africa LLC, have signed an agreement for the construction of 5,000 megawatts of solar generation.

2,500 megawatts of battery energy storage power plants for up to 10 billion dollars investment from the US government.

The agreement was signed at the US-Africa Business Forum by the Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment, Mr Adeniyi Adebayo, and CEO of Sun Africa, Mr Adam Cortese, in the presence of President Joe Biden’s Special Presidential Co-ordinator for the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, Mr Amos Hochstein.

At the event, President Buhari said as part of the National Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Policy, Nigeria had set the vision 30:30:30, which aims at achieving 30 gigawatts of electricity by 2030 with renewable energy contributing 30 percent of the energy mix, and sought the United States’ support to achieve it.

Sun Africa, Sterling and Wilson Renewable Energy Limited “S&W”, a leading US and international solar EPC company, and the Nigerian government have been working on the development of transformation grid-connected and mini-grids solar projects in multiple locations, including interconnection, electrification and smart meters infrastructure.

To ensure comprehensive approach to access electricity, the statement says Sun Africa is also implementing solar cabins and solar home systems, where the mini-grids are not economically viable.

In a statement by Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, says the project will be constructed in different phases across the six geopolitical zones to provide clean, reliable and affordable electricity to more than 30 million homes.

The statement explains that all the technical and financial due diligence activities for the phase 1 of the project have been completed for the first 5 selected locations for the grid-connected solar projects of up to 961 MWp of solar and 455 MWh of battery energy storage.

According to the statement, ING Bank, US EXIM Bank, the Federal Ministry of Finance, and the Debt Management Office DMO, have concluded all the financial negotiations and are closing the financing terms for up to 2 billion dollars.

It says construction of phase 1 is expected to start in the first quarter of 2023.

The statement says the transformative solar project of US Climate and Sustainable Energy Agenda, is entirely in line with the Federal Government’s Energy Transition Plan, addressing clean and reliable energy supply, creating jobs, and ensuring transfer of knowledge and technology.