The Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) and North South Power (NSP) Company Ltd have opened collaborative investment discussions on a solar-hydro hybrid grid targeting 20 Megawatts of power.
The Vice President, Kashim Shettima, who gave this hint, said the Fund planned to flag-off the 20 megawatts in its first phase of a 300 megawatts project.
Shettima, who spoke during the signing of the joint venture between the NSIA and NSP Company Ltd for the establishment of the Shiroro Generating Company, the country’s pioneer on-grid solar-hydro hybrid project, said 20 megawatt pilot project is embedded within a 300 megawatt solar programme, to be co-located within NSP’s existing 600 megawatt Shiroro Hydroelectric Power Plant concession area in Shiroro, Niger State.
He explained: “As a nation, our resolve is to take proactive steps to diversify our energy sources, reduce our carbon footprints and ensure a more sustainable future for generations to come,” the vice president said in a statement.
”This project will catalyze the realization of other hydro-solar projects and serve as a test case for deployment of solar energy on to the national grid”, the Vice President added.
Although the Vice President did not further elaborate on the project’s funding and commencement timeline, industry experts are optimistic that it will further improve the power generation and supply in the country.
Currently, Nigeria, with a population of more than 200 million people, has installed power generation capacity of 12,500 megawatts (MW) but generates and distributes very low power, leaving millions of households and businesses to primarily depend on petrol and diesel generators for electricity supply.
