Renewvia Energy Corporation, a global solar developer, and All On, a Nigerian off-grid impact investor, on Tuesday announced a partnership to electrify rural communities unserved by conventional utilities in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The agreement includes a commitment of $1.2 million from All On to enable Renewvia to develop and operate solar minigrids to bring clean energy, and ultimately spur economic development in the region.

The first two minigrids have been commissioned and are operating in the villages of Akipelai and Oloibiri, to support the surrounding communities. Renewvia’s minigrid in Oloibiri will power the new Oloibiri Health for Life Medical Center (H4LC) and Knowledge Management Institute, one of the hub health facilities funded by the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) under the flagship Oloibiri Health Program. The program is a local government-wide health system strengthening partnership with the Bayelsa State government. It will provide reliable, consistent power, at a reasonable cost, to enable frontline healthcare workers to provide affordable, accessible and quality assured health care to Ogbia communities.

“Renewvia Energy is thrilled to partner with All On to bring reliable, clean energy to communities who need it most,” said Trey Jarrard, CEO, Renewvia Energy Corporation. “We have connected hundreds of households in Akipelai and Oloibiri to our minigrids, and we expect to see measurable economic benefits for these communities in the near future.”

The solar minigrids in Akipelai and Oloibiri utilise lithium ion battery storage to provide reliable power throughout non daylight hours and are designed to scale as individual and communal power demand increases, without any financial burden to the community. These minigrids will immediately help over 400 households and multiple small- and medium-businesses scale activities and drive community-level economic growth.

“We are happy to announce this partnership in line with our mission to increase off grid energy access to unserved and underserved communities in Nigeria with a focus on the Niger Delta,” said All On CEO, Wiebe Boer. “We are particularly pleased that one of the first minigrid projects under this partnership is supporting health care providers during this time of crisis.”