The Federal Government plans to begin charging universities and teaching hospitals for electricity generated from its renewable energy facilities, the Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, has said.
Tegbe disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja during the unveiling of the Renewable Asset Management Company, RAMCO, a government-owned body created to manage renewable energy assets.
The minister said the new charges would apply to public institutions benefiting from renewable energy projects provided by the Federal Government. He explained that the payment system was intended to provide money for the continued maintenance and operation of the facilities.
According to Tegbe, some universities had enjoyed free electricity from the government-funded renewable energy projects for about two years. He said the period of free power would end as the government moves into a new phase where beneficiary institutions would pay for the electricity they consume.
Teaching hospitals benefiting from the renewable energy programme are also expected to begin paying for the power supplied to them.
The minister said the decision was part of efforts to ensure that government-funded infrastructure could continue working after construction and commissioning.
He noted that the country had often focused more on building public infrastructure than maintaining completed projects. The new management structure, he said, was designed to address that problem within the renewable energy sector.
The Managing Director of the Rural Electrification Agency, Abba Aliyu, also backed the planned tariff system.
Aliyu said the Federal Government, through the REA, had invested heavily in renewable energy facilities under the Energising Education Programme.
Since 2017, the agency has deployed about 82 megawatts of solar-hybrid power across 22 federal universities and three teaching hospitals under the programme.
He said the institutions using the facilities would need to contribute towards their upkeep by paying for the electricity supplied to them.
The programme was introduced to improve electricity supply in public tertiary institutions and teaching hospitals while reducing their dependence on conventional power sources.
Among the institutions benefiting from the Federal Government’s renewable energy projects are Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, the University of Nigeria in Nsukka and the Federal University, Wukari, in Taraba State.
Three teaching hospitals are also beneficiaries of the programme.
The announcement was made at an event attended by the Minister of Education, Maruf Tunji Alausa, the Minister of State for Health, Iziaq Adekunle Salako, and other government officials.
The Federal Government is expected to use the revenue generated from the tariffs to support the operation, maintenance and long-term sustainability of the renewable energy facilities installed in the beneficiary institutions.