By Francis Ntow
Accra, Oct 19, GNA – The third edition of the national Senior High Schools Renewable Energy Challenge has ended with Kpedze SHS from the Volta Region, emerging as winners among 119 schools.
Kpedze SHS topped five other schools in the finals of the four months challenge, which was held in Accra on Wednesday.
Organised by the Energy Commission and the Ghana Education Service (GES), this year’s competition was on the theme: “Clean cooking and processing using renewable energy technologies.”
The competition had sponsorship from Clean Cooking Alliance, Bui Power Authority, Volta River Authority, Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), and Agence Française De Développement (AFD).
The event also saw the official launch and unveiling of the 25th anniversary logo of the Energy Commission.
Kpedze SHS won with 84.3 points and were presented with a dummy cheque for GHS205,000, medals and a plaque in addition to six laptops, and other solar products, including a 5kW solar PV system, books, solar wall lights, and streetlights.
Yaa Asantewaa Girls SHS, which won the maiden Professor George Hagan Best Teamwork award, also placed second with a score of 80 points, and received cash prize of GHS74,000, six tablets, medals and a plaque, and other consolatory items.
Nkronsa Technical Institute had 78.6 points and placed third and awarded with a cash prize of GHS 67,000, medals, a plaque, six tablets, and other solar-powered items, while Bolgatanga Girls SHS came fourth with 77.3 points.
Business SHS, Tamale, came fifth with 74 points, with the sixth place going to the Ghana Secondary Technical School (GSTS) – 72 points.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Obed Amuzu, a member of Kpedze SHS team, said their journey to the top with their locally made renewable fruits and vegetable preservative was “challenging.”
He said they started with their project using cartons with visual art paints, and developed it upon reaching the zonal level, explaining that “it is to check post-harvest loss of fruits and vegetables.”
“It’s our hope that our project will help reduce environmental pollution, and we’re pleading with the Energy Commission and other financiers to support us, so we scale it up.”
In a speech read on his behalf, the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, commended the schools for dedicating their resources to develop the potentials of students in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
The President noted that the development of the country’s energy transition depended on shaping the skills of young students, noting that Government’s policies and interventions had increased access to clean cooking and propelled the industry to attract foreign direct investment.
He said the Government had set up 20 STEM centres and institutions to empower students to be inventors, entrepreneurs and industrial champions, and was harnessing resources sustainably for the country’s energy transition process.
Mr Massimo Mina, the Head of Cooperation of the European Union (EU) Delegation to Ghana, said the innovations of the students would be critical in the country’s fight against climate change.
He said the EU would continue to support such innovations and encouraged students to knock on the doors of financial institutions for support to turn their ideas into resourceful ventures for clean cooking and energy.
Mr Oscar Amonoo-Neizer, the Executive Director of the Energy Commission, said the competition was to promote the development of efficient use of renewable energy resources through public education, training and regulation of entrepreneurs in the sector.
“The Commission intends to support the Ghana Education Service to eliminate the chew, pour, pass and forget phenomenon in the educational system of Ghana and promote the practical application of theoretical knowledge,” Amonoo-Neizer said.
The Renewable Energy Challenge started in 2019 as a pilot programme among 29 schools in the Greater Accra region and has since been upgraded to become a national programme.
GNA