FG pledges solar power for hospitals, varsities, says ECN boss

The Energy Commission of Nigeria has reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to tackling electricity challenges in public hospitals and universities through increased investment in renewable energy.

The Director-General of the ECN, Dr. Mustapha Abdullahi, disclosed this in a statement issued on Thursday to mark his two years in office.

He said the Renewed Hope Solarisation Project under President Bola Tinubu’s administration has accelerated the deployment of two-megawatt solar hybrid systems in public institutions across the country.

According to Abdullahi, the first phase of the project has been successfully implemented at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital in Kano, General Hospital Bangi in Niger State, the Enugu Research Centre, and the University of Abuja.

The ECN boss added that several communities in Benue, Kebbi, Kaduna, Ekiti, and Osun States have also benefited, while more institutions have been listed for the second phase.

He noted that the Commission has led key initiatives promoting renewable energy and sustainable power development, signing several memoranda of understanding for solar mini-grid deployment, which are at various stages of implementation.

“The newly gazetted National Energy Policy and National Energy Master Plan were launched by the Federal Government to enhance coordination of projects and catalyse investment in the renewable energy sub-sector,” Abdullahi stated.

He further revealed that the ECN has established a pilot Green Hydrogen Plant to drive the domestication and localisation of green energy technologies, a move he said would strengthen Nigeria’s clean energy transition and institutional capacity for sustainable growth.

Source: Punch