UK firm builds solar power plant at Jabi Lake Mall

A United Kingdom firm, Actis, has built a 609 kilowatts peak (kWp) solar hybrid power plant at the Jabi Lake Mall in Abuja.

The Mall which houses ShopRite and other business outlets becomes the first of such to get a solar energy plant in Nigeria.

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According to a statement by the management of Actis, the United Kingdom firm and the developer, CrossBoundary Energy (CBE), built the solar photovoltaic (PV) mini-grid with 1,848 solar panels on the roof of the malls.

The plant generates about 850 megawatts hour (MWh) electricity yearly, helping to cut down energy costs. It rids the mall of depending on polluting diesel generators while reducing carbon emissions by 13,000 tons.

The Minister of State for Power, Mr Goddy Jedy-Agba, is billed to inspect the plant on Monday as he commended the team’s expertise and vision of providing clean energy to one of the largest malls in Nigeria.

“The solar hybrid project at Jabi Lake Mall is another example of Nigeria’s pioneering role in clean energy transition and also highlights the critical role Nigeria is already playing in the UK COP26 Energy Transition Council (ETC).”

The United Nations Special Representative of Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All, Ms Damilola Ogunbiyi, said: “This represents a good example of UK private sector companies like Actis implementing sustainable clean energy transition projects at scale across the African continent, with a particular focus on energy efficiency and renewable energy, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and UK’s COP26 Energy Transition campaign.”

The Deputy British High Commissioner, Mr Ben Llewelyn-Jones, said: “I am delighted that Nigeria is a prominent member of the COP26 Energy Transition Council, which seeks to accelerate the transition to clean power as part of a green economic recovery programme, through enhanced cooperation.”

Principal at Actis, Tolu Sokenu, in a remark, said: “We are very proud to be Nigeria’s first mall powered with solar energy. It supports our mission to reduce our carbon footprint and have a positive impact on the environment. It will also heavily reduce our reliance on grid and diesel while providing energy savings for the mall.”

The Head of Business Development for CBE, James Shoetan, said the energy from the plant is cleaner, cheaper and reliable with no upfront cost or technical risk.