Fellows from The Energy Center, KNUST have visited renewable energy installations and institutions in the North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) state in Germany.

 The visit which took place from 9-16 February 2013, was funded by the Chancellery of North Rhine-Westphalia and facilitated by the German Development Cooperation (GIZ). 

The visit was part of activities within the expanded cooperation between KNUST and NRW, and followed an earlier visit to Kumasi in January 2013 by a team from German experts. 

Fellows for the trip were drawn from various departments of the College of Engineering, including: Agricultural Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Geomatic Engineering and Mechanical Engineering Departments. Also with the team was the Deputy Director of Renewable Energy at the Ministry of Energy in Ghana – Mr Seth Mahu

The tour which was on the theme “Best Practices in Renewable Energy in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia” was designed to highlight the application of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies in North Rhine Westphalia (one of Europe’s most important energy regions), and to put experts from Ghana and Germany in contact to explore areas for concrete research and technical partnerships. 

Institutions and facilities visited included: 

• Akademie Mont Cenis,

• Renewable Energy Village in Ebbinghof, 

• Energiebau Solarstromsysteme GmbH, 

• Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy, 

• Westfälische Hochschule Gelsenkirchen, 

• Geothermal Center Bochum, 

• Center of competence Building and Energy (Munster), 

• Energy Agency of North Rhine Westphalia, and

• TU Dortmund University

Discussions on technical cooperation focused on Solar Energy, Wind Power, Demand Side Management/Electricity Demand Studies, Biomass and Biofuels, and Energy Economics.

 A draft Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to provide a legal basis for the collaboration was discussed, and is expected to be signed after the consideration by the legal departments of the collaborating institutions. 

In his final remarks, Dr Ahmad Addo, who spoke on behalf of the Ghanaian delegation, was grateful to the Chancellery of North Rhine-Westphalia for its support, and also to GIZ for the excellent facilitation. He expressed the hope that the collaboration will develop to the benefit of all parties.

To download copies of presentations made, please click here and here.