Abuja, Nigeria (CU)_ Energy Access Nigeria has launched a proposal to provide a steady electricity supply using renewable energy to 2,700 unelectrified health facilities in Nigerian communities for the next four years, which is scheduled to commence in August of this year. According to a latest statement released by ENGIE, Mr Bankole Cardoso, the Managing Director of the firm, unveiled the idea during the Powering Africa Summit held in Washington, D.C. He delivered a speech on the ‘Health Electrification’ panel along with other global energy sector experts.
The Powering Africa Summit 2022 brings together global energy sector experts, major players from North America, as well as ministerial and political representatives from across Africa, to accelerate the continent’s energy development. According to statistics from Sustainable Energy For All, Nigeria is a home for 36,000 health facilities, and 13,000 of which are without power. However, Cardoso asserts that the health center electrification initiative is inextricably linked to the goal of ENGIE Energy Access to enhance rural Africa’s livelihoods through sustainable energy solutions.
According to the MD, his business will execute an intervention program in the electric power supply at four specified tiers of healthcare provisioning. There are four types of hospitals: Primary Health Centers with beds for emergencies and maternity; First Hospitals with 30-60 beds capacity; Secondary Hospitals with 60-120 beds capacity; and Tertiary Referral Hospitals with more than 120 beds capacity and the potential to perform operations.
The MD detailed the technical part of the operation. He said, “ENGIE Energy Access through its Solar Home Systems brand, MySol, and its Mini grid business, is equipped to meet the power needs of rural health centers. Whether it’s MySol’s range of small Solar Home Systems which can power and improve service delivery significantly at primary health posts because of their low energy needs; or MySol’s range of large Solar Home Systems which will increase efficiency at first hospitals, all levels of healthcare provisioning can and will be fully catered to.
The MD added, “For services at secondary hospitals, which are likely to own sophisticated diagnostic medical equipment, the much larger MySol Solar Business Solutions is available to cater to this range while ENGIE Energy Access’ mini grids will cater to tertiary referral hospitals, bolstering their capacities.”
Additionally, he stated that as a result of this plan, ENGIE Energy Access will provide productive use appliances to the communities where these health facilities are located, thereby increasing income generation for the larger community through economic activities such as welding, charging stations, Internet cafes, frozen food businesses, and milling factories.
Cardoso expressed confidence over the company’s performance. He stated, ‘‘Key for us is sustainability. Typically, with projects like this you have the CAPEX, you install and then there’s no maintenance. Our business model not only provides a robust after-sales operations and maintenance scheme, but it also reduces the current expenses of most health centers. The community, the health centers, and individuals will all benefit’’.
