As part of the efforts by the present administration to provide uninterrupted electricity to Nigerian students by supplying power through off-grid captive power plants, the federal government under its Energising Education Programme (EPP) will today inaugurate the first solar hybrid power plant at Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike Ikwo(FUNAI), Ebonyi State.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo will perform the inauguration of the project, which will see 7,700 students and 1,819 faculty staff at FUNAI to have access to clean reliable energy from the university’s 2.8MW solar hybrid power plant.
According to the Managing Director of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Mrs. Damilola Ogunbiyi, EEP is a federal government intervention focused on developing off-grid, dedicated and independent power plants, as well as rehabilitating existing distribution infrastructure to supply clean and reliable power to 37 federal universities and seven affiliated university teaching hospitals.
Apart from 2.8MW solar hybrid power plant, other projects to be inaugurated at the ground-breaking event would include, the launch of 7.5 KM of solar-powered street lights for illumination and safety, as well as a world- class renewables training centre.
“This programme will undoubtedly improve the quality of education, research and health care services at our federal universities and teaching hospitals. I’m proud of the role that women have played in the successful implementation of this project from the head of project being a women to the female STEM students that all worked on the project. No doubt, the EEP represents a significant milestone in green financing in Africa,” Ogunbiyi said.
The EEP project is an outcome of collaboration between the REA; Ministry of Power, Works and Housing; the Federal Ministry of Environment; the National Universities Commission, and executed by Sterling & Wilson.
