Nigerian town finally gets reliable power after 17 years off the grid, thanks to solar

For more than 17 years, Talasse, a town in Gombe State in north-eastern Nigeria, had no connection to the national grid. Residents relied on generators and other expensive sources of power. Since Saturday, they have had reliable electricity: Power Minister Joseph Tegbe and Gombe Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya opened a 1-megawatt solar mini-grid built by the Rural Electrification Agency (REA).

What has been built

• 1 megawatt of solar panels and 2.4 megawatt-hours of batteries, so the power keeps flowing after dark.
• 6,028 connections: 5,929 homes, 84 businesses and 15 hubs for productive work.
• Electric equipment for local trades: rice and grain mills, a groundnut oil processing plant and electric tricycles.
• Construction began on 6 November 2025 and was finished in under a year.

More than light bulbs

“We are not merely lighting homes, we are strengthening an entire local economy,” the governor said. That is the idea behind the programme: electricity that also powers milling, food processing and new businesses. “We are building electricity ecosystems, not simply installing power plants,” said Abba Aliyu, head of the REA.

“These assets have been built for you, for your benefit and for the posterity of generations to come,” the minister told residents, asking them to protect the plant.

More on the way

On the same day, work began on four interconnected solar mini-grids totalling 16 megawatts for the towns of Dukku, Bajoga, Kumo and Kaltungo, also in Gombe. The governor thanked the federal government, the REA and the World Bank for their support.

Nigeria has one of the largest populations without electricity in the world. Solar mini-grids with batteries, which do not have to wait for the national grid to arrive, have become one of the fastest ways to bring power to its villages.