Firms merge, plan 1,000 mini-grids

Engie Energy Access Nigeria has announced plans to build 1,000 mini-grids across the country in synergy with the Federal Government’s move to power five million rural communities nationwide.

The company, formed by the merger of Fenix International, a player in Nigeria’s pay-as-you-go industry; ENGIE Mobisol, a solar home systems company; and ENGIE PowerCorner, a mini-grids provider, announced the integration at its corporate launch on Tuesday in Lagos.

The Managing Director, ENGIE Nigeria, Bankole Cardoso, while responding to questions from journalists, said the company maintains a relationship with the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission to ensure regulatory compliance in its operating states, in developing its mini-grid business.

He said, “A mini-grid is a big investment and is infrastructure because it is there and you can’t move it. We do about six months of grid analysis in the location, and we work with NERC for certification and then you educate the community on benefits.”

Cardoso revealed that the company was building a 100 kilowatt mini-grid in Banga, Niger State that will serve “about 700 households and six small-scale industrial projects.” Commenting on the affordability of ENGIE’s products, he noted that “The NERC sets the tariffs and regulates based on the state that you are in.

“Our solutions save about 60 per cent from running a generator monthly. Comparing it to the national grid, we are expecting our customers in Banga on the smaller scale to pay about N2,000 a month and the larger utility industries pay about N20,000.”

He lamented the challenges the company faced with forex as it imported solar panels and batteries saying, “Everyone produces in China as they are the most efficient solar market in the world.

“The government does have some policies to encourage people to produce locally such as the five million rural area connections goal by giving grants and financing to companies like ours to scale up business in rural areas.“We already have an agreement with our customers to stabilise prices and we are also using different financing tools to hedge those forex risks.”