After 17 years off the grid, Talasse's lights come on — powered by the sun

For 17 years, the people of Talasse, in Balanga in Nigeria's Gombe State, lived beyond the reach of the national grid. That wait ended with the switching-on of a 1-megawatt solar mini-grid expected to serve about 6,000 households and businesses. Construction began on 6 November 2025 and finished in under a year, delivered with Nigeria's Rural Electrification Agency. At the commissioning, community leaders were asked to guard the panels and cables as their own — 'built for you, for your benefit and for the posterity of generations to come.' Governor Muhammadu Yahaya called it a milestone in bringing reliable, affordable power to rural communities. For shopkeepers, welders and rice and cassava processors, reliable light is not a ceremony — it is longer working hours, cold storage that stays cold, and businesses that can finally plan past sunset.

SDG 7 · Affordable and clean energy — Mechanism: infrastructure build