Nigeria's First Commercial Undergrid Minigrid

This case study describes the Mokoloki project in Ogun State, Nigeria, which launched in February 2020 as the country's first rural commercial undergrid minigrid. Developed through a partnership between Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC), Nayo Tropical Technology (Nayo Tech), and the Mokoloki community with advisory from the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), the project replaces a weak grid connection with a solar hybrid system to improve reliability and reduce utility losses.

• The Mokoloki undergrid minigrid achieved several economic and environmental milestones in its first three months of operation, including reducing customer electricity costs by ₦20/kWh ($0.06/kWh) and avoiding approximately 15,000 kg of CO2 emissions.
• The project served as a proof-of-concept for the technical and economic feasibility of the undergrid model, executing a tripartite contract enabled by Nigeria’s Mini Grid Regulation for the first time.
• The project's operator-led business model involves a 10-year contract where the developer (Nayo Tech) owns the generation assets and pays the utility (IBEDC) a fixed monthly distribution usage fee, while the utility owns the pre-existing distribution and will own new distribution assets upon termination.
• Technically, the system consists of 100 kW solar PV, 192 kWh battery, and 88 kW diesel backup, achieving a reported reliability of 99.9 percent. Within three months, it connected 230 residential, 48 commercial, 11 public, and 1 anchor customer.
• The project reduced aggregate technical and commercial losses for the utility, which had previously reached up to 70 percent in the Mokoloki area.

APA

RMI (2020). Nigeria's First Commercial Undergrid Minigrid. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2020/07/Mokoloki_Project_Summary.pdf

Chicago

RMI. Nigeria's First Commercial Undergrid Minigrid. 2020. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2020/07/Mokoloki_Project_Summary.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=Nigeria's First Commercial Undergrid Minigrid |date=July 2020 |url=https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2020/07/Mokoloki_Project_Summary.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2020nigerias, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Nigeria's First Commercial Undergrid Minigrid}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2020}, month = jul, url = {https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2020/07/Mokoloki_Project_Summary.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }