FG commissions 1MW solar mini-grid in Gombe, begins 16MW projects in 4 communities

By Onu Okorie

The Federal Government has commissioned a one-megawatt (1MW) solar mini-grid project equipped with a 2.4-megawatt-hour (MWh) battery energy storage system in Tallasse community, Balanga Local Government Area of Gombe State, as part of efforts to expand electricity access and stimulate economic activities in rural communities.
The commissioning, held on Saturday, also featured the groundbreaking ceremony for four additional interconnected mini-grid projects with a combined capacity of 16 megawatts (MW) across Dukku, Bajoga, Kumo and Kaltungo communities in the state.
The projects form part of the government’s broader strategy to expand access to reliable electricity through distributed renewable energy solutions while supporting rural enterprises, agricultural processing and employment generation.
Beyond electricity generation, the Tallasse project includes the deployment of productive-use equipment designed to translate improved power supply into economic opportunities. The equipment includes electric tricycles, an electric groundnut oil processing plant, a modular electric rice mill and multi-flour electric grinding machines.
The initiative is expected to connect reliable electricity directly to transportation, agriculture, food processing and other small-scale businesses, potentially improving productivity and creating additional income opportunities for residents.
The development comes days after the groundbreaking ceremony for interconnected mini-grid projects with a combined capacity of 17.7MW in Iwo and Ibadan, Oyo State.
Speaking at the commissioning, Gombe State Governor, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, described the project as another outcome of the strategic partnership between the state government and the Federal Government through the Rural Electrification Agency (REA).
Yahaya said the project was particularly significant because it linked electricity access to the economic activities of the local population.
“For us in Gombe State, this project is significant because it connects energy directly to the economic strengths of our people. Balanga is an agricultural community. When reliable electricity is combined with rice milling, groundnut processing, flour production and electric mobility, we are not merely lighting homes; we are strengthening an entire local economy,” he said.
The governor commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Minister of Power and the leadership of the REA for supporting the initiative, noting that cooperation between the federal and state governments could accelerate infrastructure development at the community level.
“Our partnership with the Rural Electrification Agency demonstrates what can be achieved when Federal and State Governments align around a common development objective,” Yahaya said.
He added that the project demonstrated how government policies could be translated into infrastructure that directly benefits communities.
Also speaking, the Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, said the projects reflected the implementation of President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which, according to him, seeks to expand economic opportunities irrespective of geographical location.
Tegbe noted that renewable energy investments were being extended to communities across the country, citing projects in Kwara State, the Federal Capital Territory, Oyo State and Gombe State.
“From Kwara State and the Federal Capital Territory to last Wednesday’s event in Oyo State, and now here in Gombe, renewable power is spreading across Nigeria with unmistakable momentum,” he said.
The minister stressed that the impact of the investments should be measured not only by the number of households connected to electricity but also by the economic benefits they generate.
“The true significance of these investments will be measured in the daily lives they improve: the farmer who can process produce closer to home, the trader who can preserve perishable goods, the artisan who can power equipment, and the young person who can build a livelihood within the community,” Tegbe said.
He added that reliable electricity could help reduce operating costs, support local businesses and enable rural entrepreneurs to expand their activities.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Rural Electrification Agency, Abba Aliyu, disclosed that the 1MW Tallasse project serves 6,028 connections, comprising 5,929 residential units, 84 commercial connections and 15 dedicated nodes for productive economic activities.
Aliyu said the project reflected a shift in the agency’s approach to rural electrification, from focusing primarily on the number of connections delivered to assessing the economic outcomes generated by electricity access.
“For many years, the conversation around electricity access has understandably focused on how many people we connect and how many megawatts we deploy. Those numbers remain important. But the next frontier is to ask a more fundamental question: what happens after the electricity arrives?” he said.
According to him, the success of electrification initiatives should be assessed by their ability to increase agricultural processing, encourage entrepreneurship, reduce transportation costs, improve productivity and create employment.
Aliyu said the availability of electricity could enable farmers to process more of their produce locally, entrepreneurs to establish new businesses and existing enterprises to operate more efficiently.
He also highlighted the importance of the project’s 2.4MWh battery energy storage system, saying it underscored the agency’s emphasis on improving the reliability and quality of electricity supply.
“Access without reliability limits economic impact. This is why we are increasingly integrating storage, intelligent monitoring, productive-use equipment and sustainable operating models into our interventions. We are building electricity ecosystems, not simply installing power plants,” Aliyu said.
The Tallasse commissioning comes amid the Federal Government’s efforts to expand distributed renewable energy as part of Nigeria’s wider power-sector transformation.
Through the Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up programme and other interventions implemented by the REA, the government is seeking to use public investment to attract private capital and support the development of a commercially sustainable distributed energy market.
The strategy combines efforts to strengthen conventional grid infrastructure with investments in interconnected and isolated mini-grids, embedded generation, solar home systems and dedicated renewable energy solutions for universities, agricultural clusters, markets and other productive communities.
The government hopes that expanding these alternative electricity sources will improve energy access in underserved areas while creating an enabling environment for businesses, agricultural enterprises and community-based economic activities to grow.
With the commissioning of the Tallasse mini-grid and the planned development of additional projects across Gombe State, attention will now turn to the delivery of reliable electricity and the extent to which the investments translate into improved livelihoods, stronger local enterprises and sustainable economic growth.