METKA Boosts Electricity Access in Nigeria with Off-grid Solutions

Ejiofor Alike
The strategic business unit of MYTILINEOS S.A, leading international EPC contractor and industrial manufacturing group, METKA is set to boost access to power with the Nigeria launch of EXERON.

EXERON is unique and innovative power conversion system that provides reliable power in non-electrified regions and unreliable grid locations.

A result of the combination of resources and expertise of METKA and International Power Supply (IPS), the product is the most advanced hybrid off-grid system delivering uninterrupted output power through intelligent control of various energy sources, including solar panels, wind turbines, the electrical grid, and/or diesel generators.

Speaking during the recent unveiling of the product in Lagos, Head of Special Projects, Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Anita Otubu noted that “Our sole mission at the REA is to provide access to reliable electric power supply for rural dwellers, and the launch of EXERON in Nigeria is a welcome development as it would contribute significantly to the realisation of our objectives.”

Also speaking on how the system works, METKA Project Director, Dimitrios Triantafyllopoulos, explained that EXERON intelligently combines various power sources with battery storage to reliably provide baseload power.

“Battery banks are used to store energy for later use at nighttime, for peak shaving during daytime or to provide resilient energy to the load during grid outages. It is an affordable and efficient solution suitable for a wide range of applications, including residential, industrial, oil & gas, telecoms, defense and security,” he added.

Detailing the features of the product, Operations Manager, METKA West Africa, Emmanuel Elegbe described EXERON as a complete energy management system. “As such, no costs and time are needed for integrating parts from various manufacturers. The system comes pre-configured from the factory, allowing for quick and easy installation,” he said.

“In addition, the intelligent battery management system is able to extend the life of the storage system up to 30 per cent. And because the system’s modular architecture allows load sharing between modules, the output power remains unaffected in the rare case of failure. Another key advantage of EXERON is that the modular system can easily be scaled up to meet tomorrow’s energy needs; power upgrade takes just a few seconds and no tools are needed,” he added.
Off-grid applications represent a quickly growing segment of the global power solutions market, and Nigeria is no exception.

To this end, the federal government instituted the Rural Electrification Fund (REF) to enable more private sector participation in power projects such as grid extension, interconnected mini-grid, isolated mini-grid, isolated micro/nano grids and stand-alone systems.
A minimum of $10,000 and maximum of $300,000, or 75 per cent of the total project cost, whichever was less, could be given as grant.