Electrifying rural areas offers opportunity for skills development
African governments’ growing implementation of minigrids to electrify rural areas creates the opportunity for innovation and skills development to operate these grids, Emergent Energy renewable-energy consultant Adele Boadzo says.
In a panel discussion on skills development in the energy sector at the African Energy Indaba, she highlighted that minigrids were growing in popularity in regions such as East Africa, where companies are installing small solar energy systems and electricity users pay for services using their mobile phones.
“These energy grids, particularly solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, are easy to use, so skills transfer is done on the job,” she explained.
Further, Boadzo said that, as more renewable-energy projects were being rolled out across the continent, the greater the prevalence of technicians would become, noting that it took around three to six months to train a person in solar PV installations. “The more projects, the better,” she said.
However, Boadzo noted that there was a need to reform the continent’s basic education system to create a greater focus on mathematics and science, enabling students to study further in engineering or technical fields.
“We need students to get excited about the energy sector and more people who will encourage students to take up these subjects,” she added.
Comments
The
content
you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.
If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.
If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.
For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation