FG powers Abuja varsity with 3MW solar project

Picture of solar panel used for illustration.

The Federal Government has commissioned a 3MW solar hybrid power project at Yakubu Gowon University, Abuja, formerly the University of Abuja, to strengthen electricity supply for teaching, research, laboratories and other critical operations.

The project, delivered under Phase II of the Energising Education Programme, was commissioned on Wednesday by the Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, in collaboration with the Rural Electrification Agency and the World Bank-funded Nigeria Electrification Project.

Tegbe, who said he was pleased to return to his alma mater, said the project demonstrated the importance of connecting energy investment with human capital development.

“There is perhaps no better place to demonstrate the practical value of Nigeria’s energy transition than a university. A university brings together everything that a modern energy system is expected to support: learning, research, healthcare, technology, administration and, increasingly, the digital infrastructure through which knowledge is created and shared

“This facility combines a 3.3 megawatt solar array with 3 megawatts of AC output capacity and 2 megawatt hours of battery storage to support critical loads after solar hours,” he said.

The minister said the project was only the beginning of efforts to improve electricity supply across the university, responding to a request from the Student Union Government to extend power to hostels and other areas.

He added, “Your Vice-Chancellor has come to see me on this, and we’re looking into it. I will make sure that in the next six months, every other area will be covered.”

Tegbe said the project would also improve campus illumination and security through 388 streetlights. He urged the university community to protect the infrastructure from vandalism, stressing that the government was working with security agencies to safeguard national assets.

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“We set up a joint working committee with EFCC, with the police, with the civil defence corps, to monitor our national assets. You will not believe how many towers vandals pull down. There are big vandals all over the country,” he said.

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of REA, Abba Aliyu, said the Energising Education Programme had delivered renewable energy infrastructure to 22 federal universities and three affiliated teaching hospitals, with more than 100MW of clean energy deployed.

“When the Energising Education Programme was conceived, the ambition was straightforward: to change what reliable electricity could mean for Nigeria’s public universities. Not simply to put solar panels on campuses, but to create the conditions for students to learn, lecturers to teach, researchers to work, laboratories to function and universities to operate with greater certainty,” Aliyu said.

Aliyu urged the university to use the project as a research platform for renewable energy, battery storage, grid integration, smart metering and energy management.

The Vice-Chancellor of Yakubu Gowon University, Professor Hakeem Babatunde Fawehinmi, described the project as a major investment in the university’s academic mission.

“A university such as ours cannot teach effectively, conduct meaningful research, operate its laboratories, sustain digital services or even provide the conducive environment required for learning and innovation without dependable power supply,” he said.

The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Power, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, said reliable electricity was fundamental to education and urged the government to sustain its investment.

The project also includes a Renewable Energy Workshop and Training Centre and a female STEM component.