Rivers State

Rooftop solar in Port-Harcourt, Rivers: what the roofs are worth

Port-Harcourt has 107,484 buildings with a viable rooftop and 3.31 GWp of roof capacity. 26% run a generator, and together they spend ₦127bn a year on energy.

Viable buildings

107,484

Usable roof area

14.7 km²

3.31 GWp roof capacity

Energy spend

₦127bn/yr

69.4 GWh/yr burned on generators

Median payback

4.6 yr

Median IRR 23% (cash saved)

The savings bracket for Port-Harcourt

Approach B

Cash saved

What these buildings stop paying — merit order, capped at current spend.

Current energy spend₦127bn/yr

Year-one cash saved₦121bn

Lifetime cash saved₦6.85tn

NPV₦862bn

Median IRR23%

Median payback4.6 yr

Unlocked energy165 GWh/yr

Approach A

Energy value (upper bracket)

What the energy is worth if full latent demand were met. Not cash saved.

Installed capacity660 MWp

Capex₦599bn

Year-one energy value₦266bn

Lifetime energy value₦12.1tn

NPV₦1.74tn

Median IRR53%

Median payback2.1 yr

Three ways to size Port-Harcourt's rooftops

Solar + battery. The default headline scenario, and the one the SEO fact base quotes. Prices the energy a full solar+storage system would deliver.

Baseline: mixed

Counterfactual: grid when available, generator otherwise, weighted by the NTL-derived grid availability. The realistic case, and what the headline numbers use. Always falls between grid and genset by construction.

Read with care: Sized to LATENT demand — the energy the building would use if it could. Against a cash baseline that only reflects today's spend this looks oversized; that is what sc3 exists to fix.

System size: 660 MWp
Capital cost: ₦599bn
Year 1 savings: ₦266bn/yr
NPV: ₦1.74tn
Median IRR: 53%
Median payback: 2.1 yr

The odds a rooftop in Port-Harcourt pays back quickly

Of the 106,976 buildings in Port-Harcourt with a modelled payback, 74.2% pay back inside five years and 12.6% inside three.

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How much of Port-Harcourt's demand actually gets met

Buildings in Port-Harcourt consume 370 GWh/yr but want 535 GWh/yr. The 31% they cannot buy is suppressed demand — load that appears the moment supply is reliable.

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Electricity billing bands in Port-Harcourt

Loading band economics…

How many rooftops in Port-Harcourt actually pay

Counted building by building on the cash-saved basis (merit-order sized, valued against what the building spends today), not read off an average. Shares are of the 106,976 buildings with a modelled result out of 107,484 in Port-Harcourt. 97,411 clear a positive NPV.

Payback

Under 3 years13,458 (13%)

Under 5 years79,364 (74%)

Under 7 years97,154 (91%)

Under 10 years103,665 (97%)

Return (IRR)

Above 10%103,146 (96%)

Above 15%97,411 (91%)

Above 20%86,210 (80%)

Above 25%32,265 (30%)

CO₂ avoided

279 kt/yr

Fuel avoided

35.3 million litres/yr

Energy unlocked

165 GWh/yr

Demand that is suppressed today

People served

407k

What hardware costs right now

Median advertised rates from our Nigerian market tracker — the same prices used to cost a system in Port-Harcourt.

Solar panels

₦250

₦/W

Inverters

₦127,419

₦/kVA

Batteries

₦177,500

₦/kWh

Full price tracker Size a home system Size a business system

Building mix in Port-Harcourt

Electricity billing band

Segment	Buildings	With generator	Spend ₦/yr	Cash saved yr 1 (B)	Median IRR	Median payback
A	106,900	27,688	₦124bn	₦119bn	23%	4.6 yr
B	583	430	₦2.85bn	₦2.82bn	39%	2.9 yr
D	1	0	₦33.2k	₦33.2k	23%	4.6 yr

Load profile

Segment	Buildings	With generator	Spend ₦/yr	Cash saved yr 1 (B)	Median IRR	Median payback
Residential	98,435	25,696	₦64.7bn	₦61.3bn	23%	4.6 yr
Commercial General	4,887	1,394	₦25.9bn	₦25.5bn	33%	3.4 yr
Commercial Retail	1,484	368	₦403m	₦403m	31%	3.4 yr
Anchor	1,158	321	₦31.1bn	₦29.9bn	39%	2.9 yr
Worship	759	186	₦658m	₦658m	33%	3.4 yr
Hospitality	456	92	₦3.12bn	₦2.88bn	33%	3.4 yr
Mall Retail	120	21	₦522m	₦514m	33%	3.4 yr
Productive Use	80	12	₦83.2m	₦83.2m	33%	3.4 yr
Industrial	45	18	₦148m	₦146m	35%	3.1 yr
Filling Station	32	4	₦60.7m	₦60.7m	33%	3.4 yr
Automotive	28	6	₦62.5m	₦62.5m	29%	3.6 yr

Roof size band

Segment	Buildings	With generator	Spend ₦/yr	Cash saved yr 1 (B)	Median IRR	Median payback
100 250m2	32,189	8,469	₦24.1bn	₦23.5bn	23%	4.6 yr
50 100m2	23,132	6,084	₦4.73bn	₦4.57bn	23%	4.6 yr
250 1000m2	18,801	4,523	₦53.8bn	₦50.8bn	25%	4.6 yr
Under 30m2	18,009	4,877	₦751m	₦743m	19%	5.6 yr
30 50m2	14,337	3,858	₦1.24bn	₦1.16bn	23%	4.9 yr
Over 1000m2	1,016	307	₦42.1bn	₦40.7bn	31%	3.6 yr

Settlement type

Segment	Buildings	With generator	Spend ₦/yr	Cash saved yr 1 (B)	Median IRR	Median payback
Urban Centre	102,702	27,029	₦112bn	₦107bn	23%	4.6 yr
Unclassified	4,782	1,089	₦15bn	₦14.1bn	23%	4.6 yr

Building type

Segment	Buildings	With generator	Spend ₦/yr	Cash saved yr 1 (B)	Median IRR	Median payback
Residential Informal	69,091	14,045	₦23.3bn	₦23.2bn	23%	4.6 yr
Shed	9,816	3,391	₦457m	₦457m	23%	4.9 yr
Residential	6,949	3,558	₦35bn	₦31.9bn	25%	4.4 yr
Residential Small	6,220	3,314	₦3.77bn	₦3.57bn	27%	4.1 yr
Residential Formal	5,495	1,132	₦1.88bn	₦1.88bn	23%	4.6 yr
Commercial Corridor	1,951	409	₦9.22bn	₦8.95bn	33%	3.4 yr
Kiosk Shop	1,389	367	₦307m	₦307m	31%	3.4 yr
Commercial	949	487	₦7.32bn	₦7.25bn	35%	3.1 yr
Unknown	828	215	₦3.55bn	₦3.53bn	29%	3.6 yr
Commercial	781	185	₦4.18bn	₦4.16bn	33%	3.4 yr
Apartment	760	229	₦249m	₦249m	23%	4.6 yr
Institutional	454	123	₦26.2bn	₦25.5bn	31%	3.6 yr

Land use

Segment	Buildings	With generator	Spend ₦/yr	Cash saved yr 1 (B)
(Unset)	96,643	24,084	₦84.4bn	₦80.6bn
Industrial	7,697	2,731	₦34.3bn	₦33bn
Commercial	2,629	1,249	₦7.36bn	₦7.2bn
Retail	478	46	₦553m	₦553m
Farmland	37	8	₦29.1m	₦29.1m

Not published for this cube: Median IRR, Median payback.

Lead segment

Segment	Buildings	With generator	Spend ₦/yr	Cash saved yr 1 (B)	Median IRR	Median payback
Standard	102,873	26,814	₦77.4bn	₦73.8bn	23%	4.6 yr
SME High	3,449	980	₦18.1bn	₦17.6bn	33%	3.1 yr
Enterprise	1,162	324	₦31.1bn	₦30bn	39%	2.9 yr

Demand tier

Segment	Buildings	With generator	Spend ₦/yr	Cash saved yr 1 (B)
4.0	49,862	10,855	₦54.1bn	₦53.4bn
3.0	26,163	8,470	₦51.3bn	₦47.4bn
2.0	17,051	4,099	₦3.21bn	₦3.1bn
0.0	7,204	3,021	₦382m	₦382m
1.0	4,898	943	₦266m	₦199m
5.0	1,585	458	₦5.75bn	₦5.6bn
6.0	721	272	₦11.7bn	₦11.4bn