The Rural Electrification Agency (REA) of Nigeria has announced plans to establish a 1GW solar module manufacturing plant in the country, in partnership with Nigerian development vehicle InfraCorp and Dutch renewables company Solarge BV.
The project will be developed through a special purpose vehicle jointly owned by the three organisations. Solarge BV will hold a 49% stake, InfraCorp 26%, and REA the remaining 25%. As part of the agreement, REA has committed to procure at least 200MW of modules annually for five years from Solarge’s Nigerian subsidiary.
The modules will be deployed across a range of government-backed solar initiatives, including the National Public Sector Solarisation Initiative (NPSSI), which was launched in August. NPSSI is a NGN1 billion (US$669,837) programme, also supported by InfraCorp, that seeks to mobilise both public and private financing for distributed solar projects. The initiative is designed to expand Nigeria’s renewable energy sector and reduce reliance on fossil fuels—particularly natural gas, which accounted for 77.2% of domestic electricity generation in 2023, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
In addition, modules produced by the new facility will be supplied to projects under the Renewed Hope Infrastructure Development Fund (RHIDF), a national financing mechanism launched in 2024 to support large-scale infrastructure projects.
“This partnership exemplifies the type of innovation and collaboration that the federal government seeks to promote under the Renewed Hope Infrastructure Development Fund,” said Tanimu Yakubu Kurfi, director general of the Nigerian Budget Office. “It not only supports our fiscal sustainability goals but also deepens Nigeria’s industrial base and energy self-reliance.”
The push to build domestic solar manufacturing capacity is part of a broader global trend, as governments and companies seek to strengthen energy supply chains against geopolitical risks. While India has made significant strides in advancing cell and module production, efforts in the US and Europe have faced greater challenges.
Africa has emerged as a growing hub for solar component manufacturing. Many countries are looking to expand renewable energy generation while benefiting from the absence of US-imposed tariffs on Southeast Asian imports. Earlier this year, energy think tank Ember reported that African imports of Chinese solar panels rose 60% year-on-year.
Recent developments underscore this trend: in August, a consortium of Bahraini, Chinese, Egyptian, and Emirati investors unveiled plans to build a 4GW solar and 1GWh storage manufacturing facility in Egypt.
