NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Friday, May 9, 2014

VENTURES AFRICA – Following an agreement with Delta State, one of Nigeria’s largest oil producing regions, SkyPower, a Canadian power firm focused on solar energy projects, will be investing $5 billion in developing a 3000MW solar-powered electricity facility.

The 3000MW will be eventually transferred to the country’s national grid, but will be initially deployed in Delta, as the state took the first initiative on the project, Olusegun Aganga, Nigeria’s Minister for Industry, Trade and Investment, explained during the agreement signing ceremony.

“Skypower will deploy first in Delta State which has taken the lead because of the enormous work the state has put in to ensure the realization of the renewable energy programme,” Aganga was quoted By ThisDay as saying.

Aganga added that the government will speed up the process for license award to boost investment in renewable energy within the country.

SkyPower is considered the largest developers of solar energy projects globally.

A Prime Location?

Delta state is fast becoming a go-to location for investors within the power sector. Beside the Sky Power investment, Nigerian-owned conglomerate Transcorp has also been in the investment groove since it completed a $300 million takeover of the Ughelli Power Plant, also situated in Delta.

Together with its technical partner, General Electric, Transcorp – largely controlled by Tony Elumelu’s Heirs Holding – will be investing $46 million to raise short term capacity of the plant by 700MW, with plans on the table to increase that number by a further 1000MW within the next few years.

The plant currently holds a generation capacity of 1000MW.