16MW Mini-Grid Network Launched As 17-Year Blackout in Gombe Communities Ends

16MW Mini-Grid Network Launched As 17-Year Blackout in Gombe Communities Ends

Succor has come the way of Tallasse and the entire Balanga Local Government Area, which had been without electricity for 17 years, as the Federal Government of Nigeria, through the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), in partnership with the Gombe State Government and a private developer, commissioned a 1MW solar mini-grid with a 2.4MWh battery energy storage system in Tallasse.

The ceremonies also marked flag-off of the construction of a 16MW network of four interconnected solar mini-grids across Dukku, Bajoga, Kumo and Kaltungo communities, extending dependable electricity to homes, farms, markets and small businesses across Gombe State.

The Tallasse project already serves 6,028 connections and is equipped with electric groundnut oil processing, rice milling and flour grinding facilities, as well as electric tricycles.

While speaking at the commissioning, the Honourable Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, said the projects are a practical expression of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, with renewable power spreading across the entire country from Adamawa to Lagos, Oyo, Plateau, Kano, Kwara, Gombe states, amongst others. He said the commissioning opens a new chapter for the people of Tallasse after 17 years without power.

“The true significance of these investments will be measured in the daily lives they improve: the farmer who can process produce closer to home, the trader who can preserve perishable goods, the artisan who can power equipment, and the young person who can build a livelihood within the community,” he said.

He added that as the projects become operational, “they can strengthen public services, reduce dependence on costly self-generation and attract enterprise.” The Ministry’s responsibility, he said, “working with the Gombe State Government, developers and host communities, is to translate this infrastructure into dependable service, productive activity and lasting local prosperity.” He also urged residents to protect the facilities against vandalism.

In his address to the large crowds that witnessed the ceremonies, the host Governor, HE Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, described the projects as the product of close collaboration between Gombe State and the Federal Government through the REA. He said that in an agricultural community like Balanga, which had gone 17 years without electricity, pairing reliable electricity with rice milling, groundnut processing, flour production and electric mobility strengthens the entire local economy, not just household lighting.

The Managing Director/CEO of the REA, Abba Aliyu, said the programme is shifting its focus from counting connections and megawatts to measuring economic outcomes. He noted that access without reliability limits impact, which is why the projects combine battery storage, intelligent monitoring, productive-use equipment and sustainable operating models, with the aim of building electricity ecosystems rather than simply installing power plants.

The projects are being delivered under the Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up programme, as the Federal Government pursues multiple solutions at once: strengthening the national grid while accelerating mini-grids, embedded generation, solar home systems and dedicated power for universities, markets and agricultural clusters.

Also present at the events were members of the State Exco, Traditional Rulers and Leaders from the Komu, Kaltung and Tallasse communities; members of National and State assemblies, and religious leaders from across the state.