SAO Energy & Okra Solar – Sustainable energy to healthcare center & surrounding households (Nigeria)

SAO Energy deployed a mesh-grid in Omolege, Nigeria, using a "keymaker" business model where high energy consumption at a Primary Health Centre offsets tariffs for 96 surrounding households. While the project improved healthcare services, such as enabling nighttime births, it faced challenges including 6-month customs delays and low residential energy consumption due to declining community income. The pilot aims to expand to 200 households and eventually scale to 100 health centres and 30,000 households across Ondo and Kwara states.

• SAO Energy implemented a "keymaker" business model in Omolege, utilizing mesh-grid power-sharing to allow a high power output of 1.2kW from a Primary Health Centre (PHC) to be shared with nearby households, ensuring revenue-generating hubs offset residential tariffs.
• The provision of reliable energy to the Primary Health Centre has increased patient capacity and specifically enabled the facility to perform deliveries at night.
• Project economics have been challenged by low energy usage, with 52% of users consuming less than 150Wh/day, partly because declining community income has made energy less affordable.
• Logistical and operational hurdles impacted the project, including sea freight and customs clearance delays that extended delivery times to nearly six months.
• Financial projections for 200 households include a CAPEX cost per connection of $494.22 (pre-OBF subsidy), an average revenue per user of $8/month, and a 12-year IRR of 13%.

APA

Alliance for Renewable Electrification (2023). SAO Energy & Okra Solar – Sustainable energy to healthcare center & surrounding households (Nigeria). https://renewelec.org/case-study/sao-energy-okra-solar-sustainable-energy-healthcare-center-surrounding/

Chicago

Alliance for Renewable Electrification. SAO Energy & Okra Solar – Sustainable energy to healthcare center & surrounding households (Nigeria). 2023. https://renewelec.org/case-study/sao-energy-okra-solar-sustainable-energy-healthcare-center-surrounding/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Alliance for Renewable Electrification |title=SAO Energy & Okra Solar – Sustainable energy to healthcare center & surrounding households (Nigeria) |date=1 March 2023 |url=https://renewelec.org/case-study/sao-energy-okra-solar-sustainable-energy-healthcare-center-surrounding/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{allianceforrenewableelectrification2023sao, author = {{Alliance for Renewable Electrification}}, title = {{SAO Energy \& Okra Solar – Sustainable energy to healthcare center \& surrounding households (Nigeria)}}, institution = {Alliance for Renewable Electrification}, year = {2023}, month = mar, url = {https://renewelec.org/case-study/sao-energy-okra-solar-sustainable-energy-healthcare-center-surrounding/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }