Azuri, a company that offers solar and mobile technology to enable clients to access power on a pay-as-you-go basis, has announced a partnership with the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) to initiate its PayGo Solar Home Systems in Nigeria, to distribute reasonably priced, clean energy to 20,000 rural homes living without electricity.
Azuri’s PayGo Solar Home systems has the ability to power four LED bulbs giving up to 8 hours of lighting, a radio and a USB port with charging cables for mobile handsets. Consumers pay the monthly top-up rate through mobile money for 36 months after which time the unit can be unlocked and the consumer owns the unit. In a move to up sell its services, Azuri then provides these clients with an alternative to advance to a bigger system.
NDPHC is a government-funded initiative created to insert new capacity to Nigeria’s electricity supply system. Azuri’s partnership with NDPHC stresses the government’s hard work to support the roll out of off-grid solar systems and its dedication to renewable technologies as a sustainable means to produce electricity for rural population.
Azuri is looking forward to the deployment of the 20,000 solar home systems to generate 500 direct jobs. There will be chances for people to become solar installers and agents (for a minimum of 24 months), with 5,000 indirect jobs also generated in the process. Small businesses linked to Azuri’s system will be able to remain open for longer hours after sundown, while students can carry on with their studies in the evening and off-grid families can charge phones or listen to radios in their own house.
Azuri has carried out thriving pilots within several communities in Abuja, Kwara and Osun states, installing almost 200 solar home systems. Following this launch, NDPHC, through the project, plans to begin a phased rollout in northern Nigeria, followed by a countrywide deployment, aiming for the 70 million Nigerians living in off-grid communities without solar home solutions. Azuri’s PayGo plan will cover 20,000 off-grid homes.
“Nigeria is dedicated to easening of access to power, particularly solar power for the people. “Let me reaffirm that NDPHC is aggressively involved in the presidential initiative on rural solar home lighting systems where 20,000 units of solar home systems in rural areas with no access to grid electricity supply is being connected,” Managing Director of NDPHC, Mr. Chiedu Ugbo said.
“Nigeria’s commitment to escalating its renewable energy mix marks an opportunity for a dependable solar alternative to tackle the challenges of energy access,” Azuri CEO Simon Bransfield-Garth said. “Azuri is pleased to be working with NDPHC and the Government of Nigeria for solar home systems to meet the pressing power requirements of rural communities.”
The renewable energy technologies have been advancing in Africa. Presently, many nations already have small-scale solar, wind, and geothermal devices in operation supplying energy to urban and rural populations.
