Disco, Genco Sign Pact to Build Inter-connected Minigrid for Wuse Market

Disco, Genco Sign Pact to Build Inter-connected Minigrid for Wuse Market

Chineme Okafor in Abuja
The Abuja electricity distribution company (Disco) has signed an agreement with indigenous renewable energy generation company (Genco) – Green Village Energy (GVE) to build a one-megawatt (MW) capacity mini grid facility to power a market within its franchise distribution network.

The pact which was recently signed by parties involved in the project would result to the introduction of an interconnected mini-grid project in the Wuse Market. It will reportedly guarantee businesses in the market stable supply of electricity.
An interconnected mini-grid is a power system that receives electricity from both the national grid and an off-grid energy source for onward supply to consumers connected to it.

The Managing Director of Abuja Disco, Mr. Ernest Mupwaya, signed for the Disco in the tripartite agreement with the Wuse Market Association and GVE for the supply of uninterrupted power to over 2,000 customers of the market.

Mupwaya, explained that the project would support the delivery of energy to power users by augmenting grid supply, as well as reduce Abuja Disco’s energy and financial losses in clustered underserved areas such as commercial plazas, markets, and estates within its distribution network.

According to him, the interconnected mini-grid project would augment grid electricity through power supplied from solar energy backed with high quality batteries from Tesla.

He said: “This partnership will help us supply electricity to areas where we have underserved customers.”
Mupwaya, equally stated that when the interconnected mini-grid becomes fully deployed, the Wuse market would be the first generator-free market in Nigeria.

He indicated that the Disco partnered the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) to conduct an energy audit of the market from which the decision to do interconnected mini grid was reached.

“Following the completion of the audit, the interconnected mini-grid model is currently being developed as a pilot with a developer, Green Village Electricity Projects Limited.

“A total of 341 other sites and several clusters have been profiled for a scale up of deployments.
“The solution will be developed through three hybrid PV solar systems of 450kWp, 350kWp and 200kWp to serve three distinct segments of the market,” Mupwaya noted.

He further explained that the interconnected mini grid project was aimed at providing reliable and affordable one megawatts peak of hybrid power solution with 0.73 megawatts hours (MWhrs) of lithium ion storage to small and medium enterprises in the Wuse market.

Speaking on the expected impacts of the project, the Managing Director of GVE, Mr. Ifeanyi Orajaka, stated that, “this will make Wuse Market the very first 100 per cent green and generator free economic cluster in the biggest black nation of the world.”

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