Representatives of the Council for Renewable Energy Nigeria (CREN) and Renewable Energy Association of Nigeria (REAN) have expressed readiness to partner with the ASTEVEN Energy Institute for skills and manpower development.
The representatives spoke on the sidelines of a courtesy visit and facility tour of the Asteven Energy Institute in Mowe, Ogun State.
Speaking on behalf of the group, Dr Segun Adaju, President of the Renewable Energy Association of Nigeria (REAN), said the sector require adequate manpower and skills for better services to the industry.
Adaju said that the Nigerian government had embarked on several renewable energy, mostly solar based initiatives for inclusion in the energy mix of the country and as well reduce the lack of energy access.
According to him, government initiative is laudable bearing in mind that the single most negative factor in ensuring business growth in the country is the lack of sustainable and constant electricity.
He said that the need for an alternative energy source has become imperative considering the country’ population of over 200 million people.
The president said that the population is expected to increase by 25 percent by 2025 and an estimated energy deficit of 45 percent.
“That’s close to 95 million people not having energy access, and the remaining 55 percent under an inconstant load sharing plan,” Adaju said.
He decried the dearth of skilled manpower in the sector, paving the way for proliferation of unaccredited training centers and influx of foreign technical manpower resource.
He added that the partnership with Asteven Energy Institute is to bridge the gap in skill manpower.
Also speaking, Secretary General of the Council for Renewable Energy Nigeria (CREN), Mr Sam Nwosu, said that CREN had over the years advocated for better local content participation in the renewable energy sector.
Nwosu said that an avalanche of trained technical resource was a major step towards achieving this.
“We need to have an accredited and respectable certification process and examination for technicians in the solar industry in Nigeria.
“This is the only way we can compete and ensure the benefits of the growing focus on solar is locally entrenched,” Nwosu said.
For Mr Ebami Arogboritse, Registrar of the Institute, the training of competitive skilled manpower is the goal of the institute.
“We undertook a curriculum development process that spanned almost two years.
“We sponsored consultants to different countries to understudy their training regimen, studied the electricity sector in Nigeria and the manpower needs before the curriculum was developed fully, Arogboritse said.
The registrar said that the accreditation of the institute was very thorough.
“At every step of the way, we interfaced with the technical board, made sure all requirements were provided, facilities and equipment put in place.
“I am bold to say that no other training centre for Renewable Energy has the full complement of equipment we have for training our students,” Arogboritse said.
Asteven Energy Institute is the only accredited Innovation Enterprise (IE) centre accredited by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) to award National Innovation Diploma in Solar Energy.
It has four campuses located in Ogun State, Delta, Rivers and Abuja.
The institute is well placed to provide global quality training to aspiring technicians in the Solar Industry.
