Husks prepares to launch 500 solar mini-grid in Nigeria

A start-up that currently operates in Nigeria, Tanzania, and India, joins the league of green energy advocates as it signs the UN energy compact. The UN energy compact, which was announced at the UN high-level dialogue on energy, is a voluntary commitment to increase the uptake of clean, affordable energy by everyone by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. As a part of the latest development, the company would launch 500 solar mini-grid in Nigeria over the next 5 years.

This news is important for Nigeria as it bolsters business confidence and signifies the positive effect of the regulatory support for mini-grid operators to get free permit requirements for standalone off-grid mini-grid or interconnected mini-grids. The development moves the company closer to realizing its ambition of owning 100 operational mini-grids in 2 years, after it launched the first six mini-grids in the country in November 2021.

However, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission Mini-Grid Regulation (2016) requires that private mini-grids be transferred to the government for financial compensation when the national grid eventually connects the regions where the mini-grids are operational.

Husks anticipate launching additional mini-grids in the western, southern, and eastern regions of Africa in the coming months. This is to pursue its broad-based ambition of achieving at least 5,000 mini-grids installations by 2030 and light up more Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), health clinics and schools in the process.