Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET) has signed agreements with 14 contractors to purchase power 1,125MW of solar energy.

Under the terms of the NGN521.9billion ($1.76bn) power purchase agreements (PPAs), NBET will receive power from the planned 14 solar projects, starting in 2017.

Nigerian Power, Works and Housing Minister Babatunde Fashola was reported by Naija247news as saying that the government intends to generate 30% of its total power from renewable sources by the end of next decade.

The PPAs has been signed with Pan Africa Solar’s 75MW solar plant in Katsina State; Nigerian Solar Capital Partners’ 100MW project in Bauchi State;  Afrinergia Power 50MW in Nasarawa State; and Motir Dusable 100MW solar farm in Nasarawa State,

NBET will also purchase power from Nova Solar 5 Farm’s 100MW project in Katsina State; Kvk Power’s 100MW plant in Sokoto State; Middle Band Solar One’s 100MW facility in Kogi State and LR Aaron Power’s 100MW in the FCT, Vanguard reported.

 The other companies in the deal include Nova Scotia Power Development’s 80MW project in Jigawa State; CT Cosmos’s 70MW in Plateau State; En Africa 50MW in Kaduna State; Oriental Renewable Solutions 50MW in Jigawa State; Quaint Abiba Power 50MW in Kaduan State; and Anjeed Innova 100MW in Kaduna State.

Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading finance department head Waziri Bintube was quoted by Daily Trust as saying: “The PPAs after initialing were sent to the regulatory agencies for approval. The necessary approvals have been obtained and we are here today to formally sign the PPAs.”

As part of the PPA, the contractors have agreed on solar feed-in tariff of about NGN23 ($0.07) per kilowatt hour (kwh), which is within the limits of 2015 Multi Year Tariff Order (MYTO).

Pan Africa Solar managing director Marcus Heal said: “Our plan is to supply electricity to millions of Nigerians by developing large scale solar technology. The investment of $1.75bn is the largest on solar so far in the country, most of them are bound to come on stream from 2017.”

Image: Nigeria intends to generate 30% of total power from renewable sources by 2030.Photo: courtesy of Naypong/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net.