30 June 2012: The Energy Center of the College of Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) has held its second International Solar Energy Expert’s workshop, from 29-31 May 2012 in Kumasi, Ghana. The workshop, called I-SEE 2012, was organized under the Solar Capacity Upgrading Project (SolarCUP) with support from the Africa Renewable Energy Programme (AFREA) of the World Bank.

Participants included representatives from the private sector, electricity utilities, government agencies and regional bodies, and academia, who discussed themes including: developments in the renewable energy sector in West Africa; African Union initiatives on Higher Education; Solar photovoltaic and concentrated solar power (CSP) research; and private-sector initiatives and perspectives. Delivering the keynote address, Amarquaye Amar, Advisor to the President of Ghana on energy, highlighted the importance of a regional approach to solving energy problems.

The SolarCUP project was initiated in 2010 to upgrade the capacity of KNUST in Ghana, and the International Institute for Water and Environmental Engineering (2iE) in Burkina Faso, to serve as capacity-building nodes for the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) Regional Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE). It is funded by the World Bank’s Energy Sector Management Assistance Programme (ESMAP). KNUST is an Associate member of the Global Network on Energy for Sustainable Development (GNESD), a UN Environment Programme (UNEP) facilitated knowledge network on energy, development, and environment issues. [Meeting website including presentations and workshop photos] [SolarCUP Website]