Sunrise Industry

Nigeria’s Royal Power and Energy plans solar entry in DRC

By David Whitehouse

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Posted on July 11, 2023 04:00

 © A technician works on solar power panels at the Atlantic Shrimpers farm in Badagry, Lagos, Nigeria July 5, 2022. REUTERS
A technician works on solar power panels at the Atlantic Shrimpers farm in Badagry, Lagos, Nigeria July 5, 2022. REUTERS

Royal Power and Energy (RPE), which specialises in renewable energy battery systems in Nigeria, plans to start operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), CEO Adewale Odugbesan tells The Africa Report.

The company registered in the DRC earlier this year and is now hiring its team there. The aim is to start operations in Kinshasa in the current quarter, Odugbesan says. 

Initially the plan is to focus on selling batteries and solar panels, and then replicate the company’s power as a service model from Nigeria, probably in 2024.

The DRC has one of Africa’s lowest electrification rates at 19% in 2019, with penetration in rural areas falling to about 1%. 

The World Bank says that there was no significant increase in installed capacity at the country’s national grid SNEL between 1990 and 2017. Population growth means that available capacity per head since 1990 has been divided by almost five.

The government and SNEL aim to increase access to 32% by 2030, mainly through hydroelectric and solar power. The country’s potential for solar and wind energy is estimated at 70GW, and Climate

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