Powering a Brighter Future in Nigeria: How Tree Associates’ AirBattery is Transforming Energy Access
The Diesel Reality
As dusk falls over Tudun Wada, a farming community in Kano State, Nigeria, the marketplace begins to quiet. It isn’t for lack of business—quite the opposite. Families still need light to shop for food, traders want to keep their stalls open, and children would love to study after dark. The problem is power.
The national grid supplies electricity for only about eight hours a day, and when it goes down, residents rely on diesel generators. The sound of sputtering engines fills the night air, accompanied by the acrid smell of burning fuel.
This is the everyday reality for much of Nigeria. More than 85 million people—nearly half the population—have little or no access to reliable electricity. For the 34 million small businesses that keep the economy moving, diesel generators are a lifeline. Yet they are also a trap: they are expensive to run, polluting, and harmful to health.
Generators consume money that could be invested in education, healthcare, or new enterprises. They belch carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and fine particles into the air—pollutants linked to asthma, respiratory illness, and even increased cancer rates. They contribute to climate change. And when diesel supplies run short or costs rise, families are left in the dark.
Nigeria’s reliance on generators is unsustainable. Yet people need power. That’s why a new partnership is working to create a better alternative.
A Partnership for Change
In 2025, Tree Associates Limited, a UK-based clean technology company, joined forces with the UK’s Centre for Energy Equality and Nigerian partners to tackle this challenge. Their work is part of Zero Emission Generators (ZE-Gen), an international initiative led by the Carbon Trust and Innovate UK, launched at COP27. Funded with support from the IKEA Foundation and the UK Government’s Ayrton Fund, ZE-Gen backs projects that can replace diesel with renewable energy across Africa.
Tree Associates’ contribution is their AirBattery, a novel compressed-air energy storage system designed to provide long-duration, affordable, and safe electricity. Together with the Centre for Energy Equality, Pam Africa Green Power, Standard Microfinance Bank, and Moonlight Energy, Tree is helping roll out an integrated Solar Battery Hub in Nigeria.
Their demonstration site? Tudun Wada, home to over 228,000 people and thousands of small enterprises, from rice mills to market stalls.
The Solar Battery Hub and AirBattery
The Solar Battery Hub is a new model for rural and peri-urban energy access. Instead of waiting years for costly grid extensions, communities can leapfrog directly to clean, decentralized power.
At its core, the hub combines three innovations:
Central Solar Charging Station
A modest solar array powers a bank of rechargeable batteries. By day, sunlight is harvested and stored in battery packs ranging in size from portable units for households to larger packs for businesses.Swappable Battery Service
Community members rent fully charged batteries from the hub and return them for recharging when empty. It’s like a battery library—affordable, accessible, and pay-as-you-go. Traders can light their stalls at night, farmers can run equipment, and households can charge phones or power fans.E-Mobility Integration
With partner Moonlight Energy, the hub also provides swappable batteries for electric motorcycles and scooters. For riders in Tudun Wada, this means a cheaper, cleaner alternative to petrol-powered transport.
At the heart of this system is Tree Associates’ AirBattery.
Unlike conventional chemical batteries, the AirBattery stores energy in compressed air. When solar panels generate surplus power, that energy is used to compress air into strong vessels. Later, the compressed air is released through a turbine, generating electricity on demand.
No lithium, no toxic metals—just air and proven mechanical principles.
Modular design—units of 50 kW can be scaled up to 1 MW.
Resilience—ideal for heavy loads and overnight baseload supply.
Where swappable batteries cover small, everyday needs, the AirBattery provides the muscle: powering rice mills, irrigation pumps, refrigeration units, or health clinics. Together, they create a system that can finally rival the versatility of diesel—without its downsides.
Tudun Wada: A Community Demonstration
Tudun Wada is a perfect testbed for this approach. The area bustles with economic activity, from its 3,470 small and medium enterprises to around 400 rice milling operations. Yet the local grid is weak, delivering power for only a fraction of the day. Diesel fills the gap at enormous cost.
The Solar Battery Hub aims to prove a different path. Once established, the hub will:
Extend Productive Hours
Traders can keep shops and stalls open after sunset, using affordable battery packs instead of diesel. A tailor can run a sewing machine in the evening; a food vendor can refrigerate produce overnight.Empower Agriculture
Farmers can reduce crop losses—currently as high as 45% in some cases—by running rice mills or grain grinders even after dark. AirBattery power also supports irrigation pumps, boosting food security and income.Support Healthcare and Education
Clinics gain reliable electricity for lighting, refrigeration, and equipment. Schools can run evening classes, introduce computers, and extend learning opportunities. Today, around 65% of schools in the region lack electricity; the hub can change that.Clean Transport
Electric motorcycles powered by swappable batteries cut fuel costs and emissions. Quieter streets and cleaner air follow.Create Jobs
The project trains local technicians to maintain the hub and encourages entrepreneurs to manage battery rental services. With support from Standard Microfinance Bank, residents can access pay-as-you-go energy or small loans to grow clean energy businesses.
In every case, the AirBattery underpins reliability—ensuring that power is available even when demand is high or sunlight scarce.
People and Equality at the Center
Technology alone isn’t enough. What sets this project apart is its people-first design, driven by the Centre for Energy Equality’s mission to ensure clean energy benefits reach everyone.
Gender Inclusion
Women make up the majority of market traders in Nigeria. By training women as technicians, operators, and franchise owners of battery kiosks, the project ensures women are not just energy users but energy leaders.Youth Opportunities
Young people gain new skills in clean tech maintenance, creating pathways to employment in a growing sector.Circular Economy
Tree Associates designs the AirBattery with a high proportion of recycled components, reducing waste and cost. Old diesel gensets retired by the project are safely decommissioned or repurposed.Affordability
Renting a battery for a day is cheaper than buying diesel fuel. The pay-as-you-go model ensures no one is locked out by high upfront costs.
By embedding sustainability and inclusion into the core model, the hub is designed not just to provide power but to empower communities.
Scaling Up and Looking Ahead
This demonstration is only the beginning. Backed by Innovate UK, the project team is gathering insights from Tudun Wada—technical performance, business models, and community response. These lessons will refine the design for future hubs.
For Tree Associates, the Nigeria project is a proving ground. Thanks to Innovate UK support, the company is just months away from bringing AirBattery to market, with modular units of 50 kW to 150 kW ready for commercial deployment by 2026.
The vision is bold: replicate the hub model across Nigeria’s tens of thousands of underserved villages and 34 million SMEs. Scale further into other regions where diesel dominates. And, eventually, offer AirBattery as a viable competitor to lithium-ion batteries in markets around the world.
The stakes are high. Diesel generator use in Nigeria alone is projected to grow into a market worth $806 million by 2030. Redirecting even part of that spending toward clean, local solutions would not only cut emissions but create new industries and livelihoods.
Closing Scene – A Different Kind of Night
Picture Tudun Wada again, but a year from now.
Instead of the rattle of generators, there is quiet. Market stalls are still open, illuminated by lights powered through rented batteries. An electric motorbike glides past, its rider having swapped a battery at the hub earlier in the evening. In a nearby school, children study under reliable light. At the health clinic, vaccines are safely refrigerated. Farmers prepare to mill their grain after dark, confident the power won’t vanish.
In the background, Tree Associates’ AirBattery hums softly, releasing the energy of compressed air gathered during the day.
This is what a clean energy future looks like: affordable, reliable, and inclusive. Thanks to collaboration between Nigerian communities, UK partners, and global innovators, that future is no longer distant. It is beginning now, one hub, one battery, and one village at a time.
