For a health centre, electricity is not a convenience. It can determine whether vaccines remain properly stored, whether medical staff can attend to patients at night, and whether an emergency can be handled safely.

In Awo-Kpali, a community in Ankpa LGA of Kogi State shaped by decades of coal mining and its environmental impacts, unreliable electricity has been part of that challenge.That is beginning to change.

Through Solar4Communities, GIFSEP, with support from Global Greengrants Fund (GGF) and 350Africa, installed a 3.6 KVA/24V solar power system at the Awo-Kpali Primary Health Care Centre in July 2026. The system now provides renewable electricity for lighting, medical equipment, vaccine cold-chain storage and other essential operations at the facility. But the intervention was designed to do more than put solar panels on a roof.

Community members also received practical training in solar installation, battery storage, inverter operation and maintenance, giving local participants knowledge they can build on beyond the project itself.

For the health centre, the immediate difference is simple but important: reliable power means healthcare workers can keep the facility running when the grid cannot. The Officer-in-Charge, Ms. Ramahatu Yahaya, highlighted the potential impact on emergency care, maternal and child healthcare, immunisation and nighttime operations. The wider opportunity is just as important. With young participants expressing interest in further solar training and renewable energy as a source of employment, the project connects clean energy access with skills and livelihood opportunities within the community.

In Awo-Kpali, the shift to solar is therefore doing two things at once: keeping a health facility powered and giving the community a closer stake in the clean energy transition.