A team of German academicians is in the country to assess acilities at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR).
The assessment, according to the team led by Associate Professor Dr. Stegan Wolf, Department of School Practice and Vocational Education Training, Technical University (TU) of Berlin, would pave the way for the University to develop a comprehensive training module for the two Ghanaian universities.
With the Bui Power Authority (BPA), the Managers of the Bui Dam Power Generating Station (BGS) as the industrial partner, the training module would help build the capacities of the KNUST and UENR students, particularly on renewable energy.
Other team members include Dr. Ing. Jorg LongmuB, Sustainum Institute, Berlin, Andrea Pute Lopez, Expert Team, German TU, Osualdo Romen, SRH Berlin University and Nathan Tetteh, MEI, Berlin.
Mr Wisdom Ahiataku-Togobo, the Director of Renewable Energy, BPA, Prof. John Kuwornu, the Acting Pro-Vice Chancellor, and Dean, School of Graduate Studies, UENR, and Prof. Samuel Gyamfi, Dean, School of Energy and the Deputy Director, Regional Centre for Energy and Environmental Sustainability (RCEES), UENR, conducted the team around the university in Sunyani.
They inspected and expressed excitement about the progress of work on the construction of an ultra-modern RCEES complex being put up at the university with funding by the World Bank, and other facilities and later held a closed-door meeting.
Throwing more light on the training partnership, Mr. Ahiataku-Togobo told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that with the support of Mr. Samuel Kofi Dzamesi, the Chief Executive Officer, the BPA partnered with the KNUST and UENR to submit a proposal to the German Academic Exchange Service.
“The proposal was to seek their support in building the capacity among our engineers”, he explained, saying “the engineers at UENR and KNUST really have some challenges when it comes to actual practicality.”
POLINGS He added it was on that basis, the three institutions submitted the joint proposal for Germany to support and help provide opportunity for the engineering students to have real practical training at the BPA’s power generation site at Bui in the Banda District of the Bono Region.
“The focus of this training module is on renewable energy”, Mr Ahiataku-Dogobo stated, indicating that as the leader of renewable energy development promotion in the country, the BPA had the largest installed solar plant which was about 50 megawatts, and another 150 megawatts under construction.
He said the Authority hoped to build 250 megawatts of solar plants by the end of 2024 to augment power generation at the Bui dam.
In the interim, Prof. Gyamfi indicated about 3,000 students from the KNUST and UENR were expected to benefit from the training programme, and expressed the hope that the module would be developed for the betterment of the nation.
Prof. Dr. Wolf said the team was extremely excited about the progress made, and expressed the optimism that the relationship between the institutions would be strengthened for mutual benefit.
The team is expected to visit and tour the plant site of the BPA.
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