Hope Rises For Collapsed BUK N5.6bn Hybrid Power Plant

By Saidu Abubakar

Bayero University, Kano (BUK) is among varsities earmarked to benefit from the Rural Electrification Agency’s revival and expansion of the plant to 6MW. The REA implemented the original project under the Energising Education Programme.

Under a N100 billion federal solarisation initiative approved in the 2025 budget, the project will undergo a complete overhaul, including new batteries, upgraded inverters, expanded solar panels, and improved distribution, with the goal of providing 24/7 electricity.

Purveyor.com.ng reports that the N5.6 billion, 3.5MW solar hybrid power plant commissioned at Bayero University, Kano (BUK) in 2019 stopped functioning by 2021, barely two years after launch.

Initially celebrated as Africa’s largest off-grid solar plant, the project provided stable daytime electricity to the entire new campus, cutting energy costs by over 60% and improving academic, residential, and business activities.

The plant later developed faults — reportedly due to underestimated energy demand, overuse, lack of storage facilities, security challenges that prevented foreign engineers from carrying out repairs, and rising repair costs caused by inflation.

Power was rationed before the facility eventually shut down, forcing the university back to diesel generators and the national grid, resulting in high electricity bills and unstable supply.