The IFC is proposing to part-finance the deployment of 97 solar minigrids in Nigeria.

A project listing on the company’s website states a revolving loan of up $16 million will be delivered to Nigerian energy company Virtuitis for the construction and operation of the minigrids, pending final approval.

Virtuitis is among 22 developers that entered into an agreement with Nigeria’s Rural Electrification Agency in October 2024 to implement distributed renewable energy systems across nine Nigerian states. Since then, it has completed seven minigrid projects, covering a total 5,517 new connections.

IFC’s investment would help connect a further 142,343 off-grid consumers by 2027 through the 97 new minigrids. The minigrids will consist of solar systems between 50 kW and 800 kW in size, alongside lithium battery storage between 200 kWh and 1.65 MWh in capacity and diesel generators between 60 kVA and 500 kVA in size.

The minigrids are to be constructed on plots ranging between 0.15 and 10 hectares in villages across the Nigerian states of Plateau, Ondo, Delta, Kogi, Ekiti, Sokoto, Zamfara and Kebbi. Virtuitis will be responsible for both the construction, which is expected to take around four months per site, and the operation and maintenance of each system.

IFC’s latest update says it has completed its Environmental and Social Review Summary for the project, with it assessed as having limited risks and environmental impact.

IFC and Virtuitis first signed a partnership agreement for the deployment of minigrids in Nigeria during the Mission 300 Africa Energy Summit earlier this year, targeting the build of 500 solar minigrids across the country, including 100 in the first year.

At the time, IFC’s role was described as bridge financing by Virtuitis Chief Executive Officer Chantelle Abdul, who added that the financing would “fund capital expenditures and establish the necessary physical infrastructure for developing the proposed minigrid sites.”

According to local reports, IFC signed equivalent agreements during the summit with four other companies – Havenhill Synergy, Prado Power, PriVidea Power and Sosai Renewable Energies – also covering the rollout of solar minigrid projects across Nigeria.

Each of the companies is participating in Nigeria’s Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up (DARES) programme. Implemented by the Rural Electrification Agency and financed by the World Bank, the project is working to bring clean electricity access to up to 17.5 million Nigerians by the end of the decade.

A report published by Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics in November 2024 found 53.6% of Nigerian households have access to electricity. A large gap between urban and rural homes exists, with the electrification rate standing at around 82% of urban households, according to the report, compared to 40% among rural homes.

According to the Africa Solar Industry Association’s (ASFIA) project database, Nigeria has 449.8 MW of operational solar. The figure includes 92.5 MW of minigrid capacity and 88.6 MW from solar home systems.