FG flags off construction of 16MW mini-grid, commissions 1MW project in Gombe

The Federal Government has commissioned a 1-megawatt solar mini-grid project equipped with a 2.4MWh battery energy storage system in Tallasse community, Balanga Local Government Area of Gombe State.

The commissioning ceremony, held on Saturday, also marked the official groundbreaking for four additional interconnected mini-grid projects with a combined capacity of 16 megawatts across Dukku, Bajoga, Kumo and Kaltungo communities in the state.

Beyond electricity, the project integrates productive-use equipment, including electric tricycles, an electric groundnut oil processing plant, a modular electric rice mill and multi-flour electric grinding machines, linking reliable power directly to mobility, agriculture, processing and income generation.

The Gombe commissioning comes days after the groundbreaking for 17.7MW interconnected mini-grid projects in Iwo, Oyo State, last Wednesday.

Speaking at the event, Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya described the project as a major outcome of the strategic partnership between the state and the Federal Government through the Rural Electrification Agency (REA).

“For us in Gombe State, this project is significant because it connects energy directly to the economic strengths of our people. Balanga is an agricultural community. When reliable electricity is combined with rice milling, groundnut processing, flour production and electric mobility, we are not merely lighting homes, we are strengthening an entire local economy,” the governor said.

“Our partnership with the REA demonstrates what can be achieved when Federal and State Governments align around a common development objective. This is Renewed Hope made tangible at the community level,” he added.

The Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, said the projects represented the practical realisation of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which seeks to decouple access to opportunity from geography.

“From Kwara State and the Federal Capital Territory to Oyo State last Wednesday, and now here in Gombe, renewable power is spreading across Nigeria with unmistakable momentum. This is the practical expression of taking investment to communities and expanding the foundations of shared prosperity,” Tegbe said.

“The true significance will be measured in daily lives – the farmer who can process produce closer to home, the trader who can preserve perishable goods, the artisan who can power equipment, and the young person who can build a livelihood within the community,” he added.

Also speaking, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the REA, Abba Aliyu, said the 1MW Tallasse project served 6,028 connections, comprising 5,929 residential units, 84 commercial connections and 15 dedicated nodes for productive use.

He said Balanga reflected the REA’s new direction, moving from counting connections to measuring economic outcomes.

“For many years, the conversation has focused on how many people we connect and how many megawatts we deploy. Those numbers remain important. But the next frontier is to ask: what happens after electricity arrives? Does the farmer process more? Does a young entrepreneur start a business? Can a woman who spent hours processing produce increase her income?” Aliyu asked.

“Access without reliability limits economic impact. That is why we are integrating storage, intelligent monitoring, productive-use equipment and sustainable operating models. We are building electricity ecosystems, not simply installing power plants,” he said.

The projects are being implemented under the Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up programme, as the Federal Government pursues multiple solutions simultaneously: strengthening the national grid while accelerating mini-grids, embedded generation, solar home systems and dedicated solutions for universities, markets and agricultural clusters.