By Edo State has handed a homegrown power company the green light to start closing the electricity gap in parts of the state, literally. IZENERGY Limited has been issued a 7-megawatt mini-grid license, the latest move in the state’s push to widen access to power, lean into renewables, and give industry a reason to invest.
The license was handed over by the Commissioner for Power, Paul Usenbo, at a ceremony in Benin City on Friday, according to a statement shared with journalists on Monday.
Usenbo said IZENERGY cleared both the financial and technical bar set under the Edo State Electricity Law 2025 and had run feasibility studies before the government signed off. The 7MW project, he said, is designed to serve multiple communities across the state and not just a single locality.
For Edo, the license fits into a bigger energy puzzle: a mix of national grid power, independent generation, and renewables that the state hopes adds up to genuine energy sufficiency. Rural electrification, Usenbo noted, remains a particular focus, with mini-grids seen as the fastest route to reaching communities the national grid has left behind.
A wider reform playing out province by province
The mini-grid license isn’t a standalone gesture. Usenbo tied it to Edo’s broader reform agenda under the Electricity Act 2023 and the state’s own electricity law, both of which push power generation and distribution out of federal hands and into the private sector’s.
Behind the scenes, the state is reportedly working toward independent power projects of roughly 100 MW each across its three senatorial districts, while a separate license for the Edo North Electricity Company is said to be nearing completion.
“Edo State is open for business,” Usenbo said, framing the IZENERGY license as proof the state is serious about building the kind of policy environment that draws investors and keeps the lights reliably turned on.
The company behind the project
IZENERGY’s Chief Executive, Blessing Aibangbee, said the Edo-based renewable energy firm has been in operation for over five years and relocated part of its operations to the state roughly three years ago after spotting glaring gaps in electricity supply. The plan, he said, is to roll out solar-powered mini-grids to homes, hotels, industrial users, and other businesses.
Work is already underway; even as the licensing process wrapped up, Aibangbee expects the project to go live within four to five months. Its first phase alone is projected to deliver 1MW, enough to power somewhere between 500 and 1,000 homes.
Not everything is friction-free, though. The company’s Director of Technical Services, Charles Igabor, flagged land acquisition and infrastructure protection as real hurdles standing between the plan and execution. Still, he said, host communities have signaled support, and IZENERGY intends to bring them in as active stakeholders to help the project stick.
— Reporting based on findings originally reported by The PUNCH.
