Nigeria to build 1.2GW PV module assembly plant

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
A mini-grid in Nigeria.
The first 600MW production line is set to begin production “next year”. Image: Renewable Energy Association of Nigeria.

Nigeria will build a 1.2GW solar module assembly facility under its US$750 million World Bank-funded energy infrastructure project.

The Rural Electrification Agency (REA) of Nigeria said it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Oando Clean Energy – a Nigerian solar energy company with headquarters in Lagos – to build the facility, which will roll out its first 600MW production line “next year”.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Try Premium for just $1

  • Full premium access for the first month at only $1
  • Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
  • Cancel anytime during the trial period

Premium Benefits

  • Expert industry analysis and interviews
  • Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
  • Exclusive event discounts

Or get the full Premium subscription right away

Or continue reading this article for free

Speaking in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, managing director of REA, Abubakar Abba Aliyu, said the project would include an “off-grid power plant, mesh electricity generation [and] interconnected power grid” in addition to the module assembly plant.

“We want to scale up our localisation drive in solar materials,” Aliyu said. “And to that end, one of the MOUs we are going to sign today is the 1.2GW PV panels assembly plant here in Nigeria.”

He added that the REA expects to sign another deal to build a further 1GW of module assembly capacity: “In a few weeks, we are going to sign a joint development agreement with Infracorp and the Ministry of Finance Incorporated for another 1GW PV panels assembly plant here in Nigeria in collaboration with REA.”

The 1.2GW assembly plant will also feature a module recycling line, said CEO of Oando Clean Energy, Ademola Ogunbanjo.

“We’re building a solar modular assembly plant in Nigeria that will not only roll out solar panels, but also be able to take solar panels that are no longer working, maybe due to age or dysfunction, and recycle them into raw materials that we can then send back to those who use them for different purposes,” he said.

“This is something that we are doing to make sure that we domesticate localisation and manufacturing in-country,” Aliyu added.

There are already some solar manufacturing plans across the African continent; Japanese cell and module manufacturer Toyo Solar is currently constructing a 2GW solar cell production facility in Ethiopia which it expects to begin production by the end of March. Singapore-headquartered manufacturer EliTe Solar also announced plans for an 8GW cell and module production facility last September, to be built in Egypt’s Suez Canal Economic Zone.

The plan from Oando Clean Energy and the REA differs from these announcements in that the parties under the MOU are from Nigeria, rather than external solar companies. The plan is funded under the Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up (DARES) programme, a collaborative funding scheme between the World Bank and the Nigerian government to back the rollout of solar PV systems and enable Nigeria’s decarbonisation plans.

A report published by the Global Solar Council (GSC) yesterday said that investment and financing barriers are preventing the African continent from realising its full potential for solar PV. The GSC found that Africa as a whole met just 3% of its electricity demand with solar PV, despite having some of the best solar resources on earth.

7 October 2025
San Francisco Bay Area, USA
PV Tech has been running an annual PV CellTech Conference since 2016. PV CellTech USA, on 7-8 October 2025 is our third PV CellTech conference dedicated to the U.S. manufacturing sector. The events in 2023 and 2024 were a sell out success and 2025 will once again gather the key stakeholders from PV manufacturing, equipment/materials, policy-making and strategy, capital equipment investment and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out PV manufacturing in the U.S. out to 2030 and beyond.
25 November 2025
Warsaw, Poland
Large Scale Solar Central and Eastern Europe continues to be the place to leverage a network that has been made over more than 10 years, to build critical partnerships to develop solar projects throughout the region.

Read Next

September 4, 2025
ARENA has launched the second funding round of its AU$1 billion Solar Sunshot programme, making AU$150 million available.
September 3, 2025
Developers Alight Neoen have commissioned the 100MWp Hultsfred Solar Farm in Småland, southern Sweden.
September 3, 2025
US residential solar prices have remained at historic lows in the first half of the year despite market uncertainty and continued high interest rates.
September 3, 2025
India has added 2.8GW of rooftop solar in H1 2025, a 158% year-on-year surge from just 1.1GW in the same period last year.
September 3, 2025
Huasun claims it has set new record efficiencies for HJT-perovskite tandem solar cells at both laboratory and commercial scales.
September 3, 2025
Singapore-headquartered independent power producer Peak Energy has broken ground on a 65MWp solar project in Isabela, in the Cagayan Valley region of northeast Luzon, Philippines. 

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
September 16, 2025
Athens, Greece
Solar Media Events
September 30, 2025
Seattle, USA
Solar Media Events
October 1, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
October 2, 2025
London,UK
Solar Media Events
October 7, 2025
Manila, Philippines