Wedoany.com Report-Mar 13, Nigeria’s Rural Electrification Agency (REA) has signed an agreement with Lagos-based renewables developer Oando Clean Energy for a 1.2 GW solar assembly plant.

According to a statement on REA’s website, the project will encompass the construction of an off-grid power plant, mesh electricity generation, interconnected power grid and solar manufacturing power plant.

President and CEO of Oando Clean Energy, Ademola Ogunbanjo, said the company will roll out the first 600 MW line next year. Ogunbanjo also added that the project will be the first solar modular assembly plant with a recycling line in Africa.

The plant forms part of the $950m Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up (DARES) project, which is being financed by the World Bank and Japan International Cooperation Agency. The project is planning to stimulate local capacity for producing solar materials in Nigeria, provide electricity to 17.5 million Nigerians and turn the country into a “renewables hub.”

REA’s agreement with Oanado Clean Energy is part of a wider deal with a total of nine companies that will help to deliver the DARES project.

Speaking at a signing ceremony, REA Managing Director Abubakar Abba Aliyu also revealed plans to sign a joint development agreement with Infracorp and the Ministry of Finance for another 1 GW solar panel assembly plant “in a few weeks.”

This latest announcement follows the groundbreaking of a solar module assembly plant in the southeastern state of Enugu last July.

REA recently launched an operations and maintenance tender for seven hybrid solar plants, with applications open until April 28.