US firm partners UNILORIN to build $2.3bn 500mw solar plant

Arrow Capital Nigeria Limited, a US solutions firm, on Monday disclosed that arrangements had been concluded, in partnership with the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) in Kwara State, to build a solar energy plant in the premises of the university at the cost of $2.3 billion (approximately N736bn).

According to a press statement released in Ilorin on Monday by the directorate of public relations of UNILORIN, the solar plant when completed, is expected to generate 500mw of electricity and significantly improves the level of power supply in the state and the nation at large.

Signing the project’s memorandum of agreement (MoA) with the vice chancellor of UNILORIN, AbdulGaniyu Ambali and managing director/CEO of Arrow Capital, Brian A. Travis, disclosed that the project would commence immediately and would be completed within five months. ‎

Travis, who commended the vice chancellor for his commitment to the project, noted that the project was coming up only five months after President Muhammadu Buhari made a strong commitment to solving power problem in the country through solar power.

The CEO of Arrow Capital Nigeria said the university was chosen for the project because of the centrality of its location, which he said, was ideal to transmit power generated to Kano, the largest city in the North, and Lagos, the largest city in the South.

According to Travis, the project, when completed, would provide 10 percent of Nigeria’s total power need and create jobs with several multiplier effects, adding: “‎The culture of excellence in the University of Ilorin coupled with its stable academic calendar in the last 16 years, make the university an ideal location for the project. This is a sure guarantee of security for the project. As the project would put the university on the global map.”

Speaking on source of funding for the project, Travis, who was accompanied to the MoA signing ceremony by the company’s director of business development, Brian C. Amonu, said “it is an entirely private funded project,” just as he noted that “it is a good example of a private-public partnership and the project will put University of Ilorin on the global map when completed.”

In his remarks, the vice chancellor described the project as an opportunity to contribute to the effort of the Federal Government in terms of power generation and distribution.