Government says tariffs will fund maintenance of solar assets deployed under Energising Education Programme…..
The Federal Government is set to introduce electricity tariffs for the use of its completed renewable energy facilities by 25 tertiary institutions and teaching hospitals across the country.
Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja during the unveiling of the government-owned Renewable Asset Management Company, RAMCO.
Tegbe said the introduction of tariffs was necessary to ensure the continued maintenance and sustainability of renewable energy assets deployed by the Federal Government.
He noted that while the government had developed several public infrastructure projects, sustaining them had remained a major challenge.
“It is a new dawn. We are very good at building public assets but poor at sustaining them. RAMCO offers a different model to renewable energy. Nigeria has lived too long with embarrassing electricity,” the minister said.
Tegbe said some universities had previously approached him to express appreciation after benefiting from free electricity for two years, but stressed that the period of free power had ended.
“Some universities came to me on a courtesy visit to thank me after using free light for two years. I told them, thank you; the pro bono is over. We are coming to commission, and you will pay tariff. The same thing with teaching hospitals,” he said.
Also speaking at the event, the Managing Director of the Rural Electrification Agency, REA, Abba Aliyu, backed the planned tariff regime, saying beneficiary institutions must contribute to the upkeep of the renewable energy facilities.
Aliyu disclosed that the Federal Government, through the REA, had deployed 82 megawatts of solar-hybrid generation capacity across 22 federal universities and three teaching hospitals since 2017 under the Energising Education Programme.
He said the government needed to recover the value of its investment through electricity tariffs to ensure the facilities remained operational and sustainable.
“Government has funded this asset. REA has built them. Beneficiary institutions must contribute to sustaining them by paying for the electricity they consume,” Aliyu said.
The initiative covers institutions including Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; the University of Nigeria, Nsukka; and the Federal University, Wukari, Taraba State, as well as three teaching hospitals.
The Minister of Education, Maruf Tunji Alausa, Minister of State for Health, Iziaq Adekunle Salako, and other government officials attended the unveiling of RAMCO.
