Nigeria’s drive to move universities away from the unreliable national grid to dedicated solar power is beginning to deliver significant financial gains, with the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) recording an estimated N50 million reduction in its monthly electricity expenditure.
The development follows the Federal Government’s expansion of the Energising Education Programme (EEP), implemented by the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), to provide universities and teaching hospitals with reliable, dedicated and cleaner electricity.
The initiative is aimed at addressing the debilitating impact of unreliable power supply and rising energy costs on teaching, research, student welfare and healthcare delivery in tertiary institutions.
The Federal Government is now expanding the programme through additional solar-hybrid power plants across federal universities.
The University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, provides one of the clearest early indications of the economic benefits of the intervention. According to the African Development Bank (AfDB), the university’s 10.77MW solar-hybrid installation commenced trial operations in December 2025.
Following the commencement of the trial, the university’s monthly electricity expenditure reportedly declined from approximately N150 million to about N100 million.
If the reduction is sustained, UNIPORT could save an estimated N600 million annually, providing substantial relief for an institution that has had to contend with high energy costs and unreliable grid supply.
The solar-hybrid project is designed to supply both the university and its teaching hospital, potentially reducing their dependence on diesel generators and conventional grid electricity.
Eight Universities to Receive 36.5MW
The wider EEP is also gathering momentum. According to the AfDB, Phase III of the programme will provide a combined 36.5MW of solar-hybrid capacity to eight federal universities, with the potential to deliver reliable power around the clock to more than 180,000 students and staff.
The beneficiary institutions are the Federal University of Lafia, University of Port Harcourt, Federal University Dutsin-Ma, Modibbo Adama University, Federal University Lokoja, Federal University of Technology Akure, Federal University of Technology Owerri and the University of Uyo.
The projects are expected to reduce the institutions’ exposure to rising electricity tariffs and the cost of diesel-powered generators while providing a more predictable energy supply for academic and medical activities.
The development comes as the government seeks to reduce the burden of energy costs on public tertiary institutions, many of which spend substantial portions of their budgets on electricity and diesel.
Read Also: rivers-govt-issues-resumption-guidelines-bans-unauthorized-levies
Sustainability Raises Concern
Despite the potential financial benefits, the sustainability of the investments remains a major concern.
The REA disclosed in August that it had deployed 82MW of solar-hybrid generation capacity across 22 federal universities and three teaching hospitals since 2017.
However, an assessment of seven projects from the first phase reportedly found only three in good or usable condition, highlighting concerns about maintenance, asset management and long-term project sustainability.
In response, the agency established the Renewable Asset Management Company (RAMCO), a special-purpose vehicle designed to ensure that publicly funded renewable-energy infrastructure is properly operated, maintained and sustained after commissioning.
The move is intended to prevent the deterioration of solar assets after installation and ensure that the investments continue to deliver the expected economic and operational benefits over their lifespan.
Power Reliability Critical to University Competitiveness
The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, has argued that Nigerian universities cannot become competitive centres of research and innovation without reliable electricity.
He noted that students are unable to study effectively at night when campuses experience prolonged outages, while laboratories can suffer disruptions during experiments and university hospitals are forced to rely heavily on expensive diesel generators.
According to him, the Federal Government intends to progressively transition university campuses to dedicated renewable-energy systems capable of providing more predictable electricity while reducing dependence on the national grid and fossil-fuel generators.
Education stakeholders who spoke on the development said the emerging experience suggests that solar power could become more than an alternative source of electricity for Nigerian universities.
Dr. Tayo Alalade, a university don, said sustained investment in renewable energy could also provide universities with a major opportunity to redirect resources towards their core mandates.
“If properly maintained, it could also become a significant cost-saving mechanism, freeing scarce university resources previously consumed by electricity bills and diesel purchases for laboratories, equipment, research, teaching and student services,” he said.
The emerging savings at UNIPORT suggest that reliable renewable power could deliver a dual benefit for Nigeria’s tertiary institutions: improving the quality and predictability of electricity supply while releasing substantial funds for academic, research and healthcare activities.
