Solar projects in Chad and Kenya have moved from announcement to disbursement and contracting, offering a template for the segment Nigeria’s Distributed Renewable Energy Fund (DRE Fund) is designed to finance.
Kowatek Solar, a Nigerian solar engineering company, said the two markets show how distributed and grid-support solar can move from planning to money.
Chad hybrid plants reach first disbursement#
On 2 October 2026, the African Development Bank (AfDB) said Qair’s Gassi and Lamadji hybrid plants in Chad had reached financial close and first disbursement.
- Total capacity: 30 megawatts peak (MWp) of solar
- Battery storage: 8 megawatt-hours (MWh)
- Offtake: 20-year power purchase agreement with Tchadelec
- Financing: €37.9 million package structured with Proparco, the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa and the Green Climate Fund
The plants sit inside the Desert to Power and Mission 300 initiatives.
Kenya signs off-grid contracts#
In Kenya, the Kenya Off-Grid Solar Access Project (KOSAP) is the parallel story for areas the grid will not reach soon.
- Signed contracts: about $64 million
- Programme backing: $150 million World Bank-supported KOSAP
- Coverage: 113 mini-grids in arid and semi-arid counties
- Stand-alone solar: hundreds of clinics, schools and offices
- Wider target: more than two million people in 14 counties, including stand-alone systems and about 146 solar mini-grids
Template for Nigeria’s DRE Fund#
The common design is hybrid: solar, storage and a clear customer, whether a utility, a clinic or a trading community.
Nigeria’s $300 million DRE Fund is built for the same design, at larger scale and with more emphasis on local developers.
