The Managing Director of the Rural Electrification Agency, Dr Abba Aliyu, has hailed the newly released mini-grid regulations of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, describing them as a historic turning point that will fast-track large-scale project delivery in Nigeria’s renewable energy sector.
A statement from the firm stated that the updated regulation released by NERC followed two years of intense advocacy and technical submissions from the REA.
According to Aliyu, these regulations represent a shift from scarcity thinking to a strategy of scale and innovation. He noted that for too long, vital projects were delayed and investments slowed due to a system that failed to match the ambition of the Nigerian people.
By aligning policy with the practical realities faced by developers on the ground, he said the new rules are expected to unlock massive opportunities for millions of Nigerians currently living without reliable power in underserved areas.
The REA boss further expressed appreciation to the NERC Chairman, Dr Musiliu Oseni, and his team, stating that their openness to collaboration has effectively written their names in gold.
He emphasised that for developers working under major initiatives like the Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up, the Nigeria Electrification Programme, and the Energising Education Programme, the impact of the reform is immediate.
“The work now shifts from navigating bureaucratic hurdles to accelerating the deployment of infrastructure that can finally meet the true demand of underserved communities,” Aliyu said.
The new regulations provide for an increase in capacity thresholds, which have been raised from the previous 1-megawatt limit to 5 MW for isolated mini-grids and 10 MW for interconnected mini-grids. This allows developers to build larger and more robust systems without being trapped in the complex regulatory requirements typically reserved for utility-scale power plants.
The regulation also introduces a single permit that consolidates generation, distribution, and supply, eliminating costly and time-consuming dual-licensing processes that previously stalled progress.
Aliyu further commended the new regulation for introducing practical environmental compliance pathways specifically designed for solar PV and battery systems, alongside defined energisation timelines.
He noted that these new reforms will ensure that once a project is built, it is commissioned and delivers power to the people without unnecessary delay.
Under the new rules, a mini-grid is defined as “any electricity supply system with its own generation capacity supplying electricity to more than one customer and which can operate in isolation from, or be connected to, a distribution licensee’s network and which falls within the capacity limits prescribed in these regulations.”
The regulations apply to all isolated mini-grids with installed generation capacity of up to 5 MW per site and to all interconnected mini-grids with installed generation capacity of up to 10 MW per site.
Isolated mini-grids are those that supply electricity independently of a distribution licensee’s network, with an installed capacity of up to 5MW per site. Interconnected mini-grids are those connected to, and operated in coordination with, a distribution licensee’s network, with installed capacity of up to 10 MW per site
For isolated mini-grids, the commission may grant a permit where the project is in a designated unserved area; does not materially conflict with an approved distribution licensee network expansion plan (or the licensee has failed to show a verifiable commitment within the stipulated period); and the developer meets community-agreement, technical, health, safety, and tariff-model requirements.
For interconnected projects, the new regulation stated that the duly authorised representatives of the community, the mini-grid developer, and the distribution licensee must sign a tripartite agreement, which is then filed with the commission.
The commission may register the agreement and grant the permit once the retail tariff is determined using the mini-grid tariff model.
SOURCE: PUNCH NEWS PAPER
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