Nigeria’s 22 million small fossil-fuel generators cost households $14 billion annually, but a pay-per-use battery rental service aims to replace them with solar energy. The problem is not generating solar power—it is distributing it affordably in off-grid communities. Petrol is versatile, portable, and sold by the litre, while renewable energy has lacked an equivalent distribution model. Mobile Power’s MOPO Hubs solve this by separating generation from distribution: customers rent charged batteries at pay-per-use rates, avoiding upfront debt for solar panels. The removal of Nigeria’s fuel subsidy in May 2023, which caused petrol prices to spike 175% overnight and then rise 300%, has suddenly made solar products cost-competitive with generators. If successful, this project will launch the MOPOMax battery—a 1 kWh unit designed to directly replace small generators. It offers cheaper, silent, non-polluting energy for homes and businesses. The impact could extend across Africa, disrupting a fossil-fuel generator market that keeps millions dependent on expensive, dirty power. This is applied commercial research with immediate practical deployment, not fundamental science.
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In Nigeria, the electricity grid is not able to keep up with a growing population, as a result 40% of households own a fossil-fuel generator spending $14 billion annually on fossil-fuel. There are believed to be 22 million small generators in Nigeria despite the government ban to stop them being imported in 2015(A2EI). Until recently, the Nigerian government heavily subsidised fossil-fuel, making it even harder for solar products to undercut the cost of fossil-fuel. However in May 2023 the new President Tinbu declared an end to the fuel subsidy in his inauguration speech. With that decree, the economics of Nigeria's nascent solar industry changed at once. The subsidy removal has thrown that market wide open. Fuel prices spiked 175% overnight, disrupting the economics of a generator-dependent nation. Prices have now risen to 300% higher than before this announcement. Solar products are now able to be more competitive with generators. However the challenge now is not the ability to build solar generation assets but appropriate energy distribution. Petrol manages to make energy versatile, portable and pay per use. There is not yet a renewable energy distribution system that can compete with petrol in off-grid communities. Mobile Power's pay-per-use battery rental services can solve these problems by disconnecting generation from distribution, removing the need for customer debt finance. This approach ensures that energy is not only generated sustainably but is also delivered in a manner that is accessible, affordable, and adaptable to the specific energy needs of customers, thereby addressing a crucial aspect of the energy access challenge in Africa. Since 2013 Mobile Power has developed and patented a unique battery technology through installing solar-powered "MOPO Hubs" that provide energy via pay- per-use MOPO Batteries for homes and businesses. Mobile Power has already begun displacing fossil fuel across Nigeria, DRC, Sierra Leone and Liberai with its first product the MOPO50 Battery, a 50Wh Battery that provides clean affordable electricity to low income households. This project will enable Mobile Power to launch its latest product in Nigeria- the MOPOMax Battery, a 1kWh Battery used to replace small fossil-fuel generators, providing customers with a cheaper, silent, non-polluting, renewable energy alternative. With the end of the fuel subsidy and the fuel prices trebling- Nigeria is at a cross roads. Mobile Power, with the help of this project is positioned to disrupt the fossil fuel generator market in Nigeria now and then scale across Africa.
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