In a bid to electrify 37 universities with solar energy across the country, Minister of Power, Work and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, recently commissioned a one-megawatt solar plant in Alex-Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike, Ebonyi State.

While addressing newsmen, Fashola disclosed that the power plant is a project birthed by the President’s approval of the Rural Electrification Strategy and Implementation Plan (RESIP).

He explained that the development served as an intervention project which is targeted towards bringing power to the doorsteps of those residing in rural communities.

His words: “The power plant is a policy intervention project to break down access to power, especially to rural communities.”

The Minister further noted that the 3,500 installed solar panel, which comes with 8 kilometers of lightning, “is one of the first nine which will be done this year.”

He said that there was a policy for eligible customers which was targeted at industries and heavy consumers where an estimated two million consumers would be captured.

He said that there was also a policy to energise markets and stressed that the policy had led to the interventions at Ariaria (Aba), Sabongeri (Kano), and other markets across the country.

He added that the intervention project at the federal universities which involved students was part of policies to ensure that universities had their independent power plants which they could service and maintain.

Meanwhile, he also stated that since the commencement of work, over 9,000 people including undergraduates of the institution, were employed for the RESIP project.

Prof. Chinedum Nwajiuba, the Vice Chancellor of the university, commended Buhari for his intervention programme in the power sector and for choosing the institution as one of the benefiting federal universities. (Tribune)

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