[Nigeria] German firm, LTI ReEnergy, to invest N186bn in solar

With the ongoing efforts of the Federal Government to rebuild the towns and communities destroyed by Boko Haram insurgents in the North East zone, a German firm, LTI Re Energy and its Nigerian partner, NIGUS International, have sealed an agreement to light up the zone through renewable energy resources.

To this end, the firms have made known their intention to commit N180 billion in the development of solar energy in that part of the country. The companies revealed that they would soon commence construction of 500 megawatts of power supply in the zone, beginning with Adamawa State in the next few days.

Speaking with journalists at the NIGUS-LTI Solar Investment round table held in Abuja, the Head, Overseas Operations, Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission, NIPC, Abubakar Yerima, said, the they were waiting to be issued license to commence operation. He added that, the company was ready to start construction of initial 500 megawatts and then expand, adding, “The NIPC has facilitated most of the meetings and we are now in final state of the PPA being approved.”

Noting the investment would be in tune of $600 million, Yerima said, “Funding of the project is completely private sector initiatives’’.

He said where the Federal Government comes in is in the areas of issuing of license and other forms of facilities needed, while commending the firms decision to invest in renewable energy resources in the North East zone which is a highly disadvantaged zone in the country because of the insecurity and other reasons.

He stated: ‘‘We engaged them and after several meetings and agreements, we had a Memorandum of Understanding MoU, signed in the United Kingdom, UK, which gave birth to this event we are witnessing this morning’’. On the value chain, he said “The LTI Re Energy is one of the largest companies in the Europe.

It is the German company which is into the construction of solar source as well as inverters. The LTI is going to start the production of solar energy in the North East with Adamawa state, because the radiation there is one of the highest in the country. “They will now set up their solar farm and beside the solar farm, there is going to set up the production lines. Now, with that you have a complete value chain. First of all, you have the industries coming in because of the availability of power.

You will also have the industries that are producing, which will now employ Nigerians to work in those places. “And apart from this, the other thing they are intending to do is that they are partnering with several farms, which is Free Trade Zone and they are set up Free Trade Zone in that area which will bring more industries from Europe and the other parts of the world.” In his remarks, Senator Abdul-Aziz Murtala Nyako (APC) representing Adamawa Central Senatorial Districts, promised to support bills that would promote the development of the power sector of the economy in Nigeria.

He charged all stakeholders in the power industry to make their input in all the bills concerning the sector pending before the National Assembly in order to encourage maximum development of the sector. According to him, “Primarily, what we are discussing here goes beyond Adamawa State. We are talking about the future of Nigeria. We are talking about renewable energy, and this is the trend worldwide’’.

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