The Universal Energy Facility (UEF), a financing facility managed by Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), has announced plans to provide grants to certain renewable energy companies for their solar projects in Nigeria. The international organization will provide financial aid to the firms who applied to have their projects funded as part of the SEFA’s ‘Stand-alone Solar for Productive Use’ program in the country.
The renewable energy developers will begin the construction of their solar projects spanning most states in Nigeria and are expected to complete the projects within a year. UEF estimates the stand-alone solar energy projects will help in reducing approximately 5,400 tons of CO2 equivalent emissions once they are complete.
Damilola Ogunbiyi, CEO and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for SEforALL said, the UEF’s grant will demonstrate how sustainable energy can have a positive impact on local economic development and climate action. The solar projects will give businesses and other infrastructures clean and affordable electricity to help them grow, create jobs, and replace polluting fuels.
Yemi Osinbajo, the Vice President of Nigeria, said the UEF’s grant payments will enable solar power developers to expand their operations to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across Nigeria, while crowding-in additional capital from private investors.
Anita Otubu, Senior Director at the UEF, said that within a few months of the opening of the ‘Stand-alone Solar for Productive Use’ program, the grantees have been selected and companies are in a position to build transformative solar projects. The UEF program is proving the effectiveness of results-based finance for developing renewable energy at speed.
The solar energy projects will connect approximately 3,500 businesses, health clinics, schools, markets, cold-storage facilities, and other productive uses of energy, supporting economic activity and community infrastructure. The UEF will enable these projects to make significant contributions to the country’s ‘Energy Transition Plan’ which aims to achieve universal energy access by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2050.
