Akugbene Community in Bomadi Local Government Area of Delta State will soon begin to enjoy electricity supply through solar energy facilitated by Everlink Telesat Network Ltd
The company has already built a mini-grid site from where generated electricity will be stored and supplied to the community. Akugbene is a riverine community on the bank of the Forcados River. Access to the community is mainly by water.
The Site Supervisor of Everlink, Mr. Donald Ogbalor, who spoke to National Point at the site, said the project was a private arrangement with the community. He said the grid will supply the whole of Akugbene community.
He said that with the review of the law on power generation and distribution in 2023, arrangements to generate power and distribute is now liberalized. He pointed out, for instance, that Geometric Power in Aba is supplying eight local government areas in Abia State.
But he said before embarking on the project, the company would sit down with the community or government to estimate the load that the grid would carry and the billing methods.
Mr. Ugbalor however said in executing the Akugbene project, the company had many challenges. “The problem here is the terrain. It costs us 2-3 times what it would have cost us on doing this at a place with land access.
“You charter a barge and other logistics that can move the facilities on the place by water because there is no road,” he said.
