The Energy Centre (TEC) in collaboration with the International Institute for Water and Environmental Engineering (2iE) has organised this year’s International Solar Energy Experts Workshop (I-SEE) at the College of Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).
The event was scheduled within the framework of the Solar Capacity Upgrading Project (Solar CUP), under implementation by the KNUST’s Energy Centre (TEC) and its partners in the Renewable Energy Education Project (REEP) and the International Institute for Water and Environmental Engineering 2iE based in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
In an opening remarks, the Pro-Vice Chancellor of KNUST, Professor Peter Donkor who chaired the occasion on behalf of the Vice-Chancellor, said KNUST has actively collaborated over the years with institutions of higher learning and research across Africa and beyond, with the view to finding solutions to common problems.
Professor S. I. K Ampadu, Provost of the College of Engineering gave the welcome address. He reechoed the College’s collaborations with other partners to address the developmental needs of people, particularly in the areas of renewable energy. He mentioned some major contributions by the College to Ghana’s infrastructural development since independence and hoped for this to continue.
He expressed appreciation to the World Bank for providing support in the area of energy studies and research, through the Clean Energy Investment framework Multi Donor Trust Fund. He announced that KNUST in partnership with 2iE will install two Weather Stations to collect data to aid in solar energy resource assessment, experimental grid–connected solar photovoltaic systems and also conduct knowledge networking.
In a keynote address, Dr. Hussein Elhag, the Executive Director of the African Energy Commission (AFREC) said access to clean energy supplies is crucial to economic growth, social development and poverty eradication. He stressed that since energy remains a major input in the production function of social, economic and industrial growth it is necessary to harness its production to ensure that what is obtained is economically viable, socially acceptable, and environmentally clean.
He however lamented about the magnitude and scale of energy needs facing Africa today. According to Mr. Hussein, a recent analysis made by AFREC found that only 27 percent of the population in the Sub-Saharan Africa have access to electricity and that even with this low rate, electricity supplies are mostly unreliable due to recurrent load shedding, blackouts and transmission and distribution problems. He emphasised that this challenge will only worsen if the continent fails to correct itself and mobilise a broad investment in technology development and acquisition to support a projected annual growth rate of 15 percent of power capacity through the next 20 years.
He advised that in order to fulfill a universal electricity supply by 2030, Africa needs to increase its energy generating capacity by 5 times compared to what is available today, and to more than 8 times by 2050. He therefore charged the continent to be prepared for the introduction of the renewable-based power which is no longer an option but a collective mandate.
He again charged local institutions to expand their focus beyond small scale and theoretical engineering and scientific research to address large system development. He was confident that with the development of solar energy technologies in a coherent manner and manufacturing-oriented strategies, Africa will in no time be creating its “Economic Model” with technology as its primary driving force.
