Nigeria's off‑grid solar boom outpaces utility‑scale renewable projects

Nigeria has become sub‑Saharan Africa’s fastest‑growing market for small‑scale solar, with roughly 96% of its solar capacity now off‑grid. In 2025 the country added 803 MW of photovoltaic capacity, pushing cumulative installed solar to about 1.19 GW, while battery storage rose 305% to 40.6 MWh. By contrast, the nation’s wind sector remains limited to a single 10‑MW farm that has never operated commercially.

A BloombergNEF report finds that Nigeria installed 3.1 GW of small‑scale solar in 2024‑25, bringing total off‑grid solar capacity to roughly 6 GW and projecting it could reach 87 GW by 2035 if growth continues. Utility‑scale renewable investment, however, remains stalled, leaving the national grid reliant on aging gas‑fired plants despite a total generation capacity of about 13.6 GW.

The decentralized expansion is driven by households and businesses seeking reliable power amid frequent blackouts, while large‑scale projects struggle with grid constraints, insurgent activity, and limited financing.