The Rural Electrification Agency (REA) and a Chinese company, Huawei Technologies Company Limited, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the aim to improve the reliability and efficiency of renewable energy systems and especially in handling environmental challenges and extreme weather conditions.
Tribune Online reports that the agreement was finalised during President Bola Tinubu’s visit to Huawei’s Beijing Research Centre as part of the China-Africa Summit in September last year. The MoU will also see Huawei support the development of mini-grid standardization centers to ensure the reliability and efficiency of renewable energy systems.
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Tagged “Huawei’s official hand-over of a world-class mini-grid standardization and simulation centre” and held at the Agency’s headquarters in Abuja on Friday, the Managing Director Chief Executive Director (MD/CEO) of REA, Abba Abubakar Aliyu, speaking at the event said while the equipment received will help reduce cases of low quality materials in Nigeria’s renewable energy drive, it will also help to check the importation of substandard renewable products as well boosting local manufacturing confidence.
He said, “I am happy to say that we are witnessing the fulfillment of all the commitments signed under that memorandum of understanding. The importance of this mini-bridge standardisation and simulation centre cannot be overemphasised.
“Nigeria is working towards positioning itself as the renewable hub of Africa. To achieve that, Nigeria would need to catalyse private sector investment in the manufacturing and assembly of all the renewable equipment in the country. But one key thing that may hinder that, is the proliferation of substandard or used equipment that keeps coming into Nigeria.
“The private sector will require the assurance and the confidence that if they put in their money and build a manufacturing outfit in the manufacturing of photovoltaic panels or assembly of that, they would not be competing with people who import second-hand or substandard PV panels.
“To address that, the REA sought the support of Huawei and the Chinese government for the development of this simulation and standardisation centre. This centre will help REA to sieve out all substandard and second-hand equipment, be it the PV panels or batteries.”
The REA boss thanked Huawei for its commitment to supporting electricity access limitations in Nigeria by providing equipment to tackle it.
“What we are going to use this testing and simulation centre for is to certify the vendors that we will be using. The country is experiencing an influx of substandard or used equipment. We need to get rid of that for us to catalyse investment into the country.
“So, we are going to use this testing and simulation centre to certify vendors that have met the standard of REA for us to continue to buy their equipment and make use of it in the country. That is one. We are also going to use this to ensure the sustainability of our mini-grids infrastructure across the country,” he added.
Some of the equipment among others donated by Huawei according to Abubakar Aliyu include: power analyser, multimeter, electronic load, AFCI generator, DC power, battery analyser, micrometer and screw gauge.
The Board Director, Huawei Nigeria, Zhang Jing, earlier in his remarks, said the mini grid systems will improve Nigeria’s power infrastructure and ensure that renewable energy is reliable and efficient.
He said, “They have been designed to handle different environmental challenges and withstand extreme weather conditions. Huawei is very delighted to partner with REA on this great initiative and milestone to make Nigeria have a more sustainable and secure energy future.”
The partnership is seen as a way forward for Nigeria’s energy future, aiming to address energy access and reliability issues across the country.
