By Florence Afriyie Mensah
Kumasi, Sept. 06, GNA – The Sustainable Energies, Entrepreneurship and Development (SEED) Center at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), has handed over a solar energy electrification system to the people of Yeboakrom in the Juaben Municipality.
The provision of the solar energy electrification project to the predominantly farming community, is part of the four-year SEED project, which is being implemented by the Technical University of Munich (TUM) in collaboration with eight other leading technical universities in the global south, including KNUST.
It is being funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).
The KNUST-TUM SEED Centre’s expectation is that the involvement of students in this problem-solution project will equip them with the requisite skills for more future engagements, whiles Yeboakrom, the first community to benefit from the project, becomes a model community with sustainable source of energy, which is a catalyst for development.
Professor Rexford Assasie Oppong, Scientific Director, KNUST-TUM SEED Center, said the University received about €150,000.00 as funds from the sponsors and built a “Living Laboratory” for creating prototyping and testing of new technologies in the community.
He was speaking at the opening of the 2023 KNUST-TUM SEED Center Annual Symposium held in Kumasi.
The five-day programme brought together a gathering of world-class scientists, academics and students, civil society organizations and industrial partners, working since 2020 to make the world a better place through sustainable partnerships led by TUM.
The partner universities participating in the symposium will be making presentations on current research in their “living laboratories” to demonstrate increasing entrepreneurial activities in the areas of renewable energy systems, rural electrification, community engagement, agricultural practice, mobility, and global engagement.
Prof. Oppong said it was important to work together as a group to map out ways to improve and continue the project in the next phase until 2030 and combat the global challenges together.
He said access to sustainable energy sources was one of the surest ways to enhance productivity and economic development, and expressed hope that the project’s aim would help expand electrification to other communities with electricity deficit soon.
Prof. Frank-Martin Belz, Director of TUM-SEED Center, Technical University of Munich, said there were still 600,000 people around the world who did not have access to electricity, especially in the rural areas.
“We want to empower them. We want to conduct research with impact to electrify and motivate the rural communities who do not have access to electricity yet.”
He used the occasion to commend the KNUST for its continuous resolve in partnering with institutions to solve modern societal challenges.
Prof. Ellis Owusu-Dabo, Pro Vice-Chancellor, KNUST, mentioned that the project goals aligned with the KNUST’s mission and quest to create an environment for undertaking relevant research, entrepreneurship training and community engagement to improve the quality of lives of the people.
He said the KNUST-TUM SEED Center was contributing immensely to Ghana’s aim of achieving a 10 percent renewable energy target in its energy mix by the year 2030.
GNA