CAPTION: Engr. Theophilus Nweke (4th from left) Managing Director/CEO flanked by staff of the Rural Electrification Agency, REA, at the commissioning of the 50KW Namu Solar Mini-Grid plant
The Managing Director of Cloud Energy, Engr. Theophilus Nweke, in his address explained that his company committed financial and human resources to make this 50 kilowatt solar mini-grid a reality because of the urgent need to unlock the rich potentials of the rural Namu community.
Cloud Energy Photoelectric Limited, in furtherance of the strategic partnership with the Rural Electrification Agency, REA, has commissioned another Solar Mini Grid plant. This time a 50 KWhz Solar Mini-Grid plant at Namu, Plateau State.
The occasion was festive, with fulfilment that you could touch, as the 50 kilowatt solar-mini-grid restored light to Namu, community in Qua’an Pan LGA, after 20 years without power. The immediate impact is the return of Namu to economic growth – businesses return to productivity, the local economies improve with the creation of many jobs.
The Managing Director of Cloud Energy, Engr. Theophilus Nweke, in his address explained that his company committed financial and human resources to make this 50 kilowatt solar mini-grid a reality because of the urgent need to unlock the rich potentials of the rural Namu community. He revealed that the Namu community is home to fifty rice mills, all to be powered by the solar-mini-grid plant. Engr. Nweke observed that there was an urgent need to scale up the Namu solar mini-grid to two megawatts in order to enable it play a more significant role in the industrial development of the Qua’an Pan rural communities and Plateau State at large. Addressing the leaders of the community, the renewable energy boss, observed that he heard a few complaints that the power was yet to reach them. He opined that the long wait for power has stopped with the commissioning of the 50 kilowatt solar-mini-grid, which he described as the seed for a new era of reliable and steady power.
In his contribution, the Managing Director, Rural Electrification Agency, Abubakar Abba Aliyu explained that the African mini-grid program is a flagship initiative designed to support access to clean energy and promoting large scale investment in renewable energy in Africa. It focuses on cost reduction levers. He further explained that the project, here in Qua’an Pan, is not just a power installation. It is a symbol of transformation that will light up homes, power our businesses and create new opportunities for people and farms in the community. The future of the renewable sector in Plateau State looked full of hope as the State Governor, Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang, assured all that renewable energy would receive priority attention now and in the future in his administration.
Cloud Energy Solar thus reaffirms the company’s capacity to unleash the potentials of rural communities. The Namu 50 Kilowatt Solar-mini-grid is another testimony of Cloud Energy’s unwavering commitment to catalyzing rural development through the solar-mini-grid technology. In Namu, as in Ita Awoke community in Ebonyi State, where Cloud Energy installed a 100 Kilowatts solar-mini-grid, Children are fetching clean portable water from the public tap, the women are grinding beans, corn and other grains 24/7, and the rice mills are loading trucks of milled rice. In Namu, Cloud Energy Solar has energized another rural community.
