The Centre for Research in Energy and Energy Conservation (CREEC) at Makerere University has successfully launched the CREEC Academy and the mini-grids for rural development training .
The academy has been co-funded by the German Cooperation, European Union and in partnership with E4D, VETToolbox, Strathmore Energy Research Centre, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development and the East African Centre for Excellence in Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (EACREEE).
The mini-grids for rural development training, which will end on Friday, May, 5 is aimed at equipping participants with the necessary skills to design, install, and maintain solar mini-grids.
The new course will cover a wide range of topics, including solar energy fundamentals, mini-grid design, project management, and financial analysis preparing experts to scale up mini-grid projects in Uganda.
The state minister for Energy, Okasai Opolot said, “the growing penetration of renewables is stimulated by an increasing enabling environment as evidenced by the enhanced efforts by the government to promote private sector investment in the sector, such as the on-going regulatory framework reviews, capital subsidies for mini-grid projects, VAT tax waivers on imported Solar PV products.
He also appreciated capacity building initiatives such as those by CREEC which are in alignment with the government’s commitment to enhance technical capacity in the energy sector through supporting skilling and training centres to not only build capacity but also promote innovation.
“The new CREEC Academy will be a vehicle to accelerate capacity building and scale up the impact of capacity building programs and skills in the sector for Uganda and East Africa,”said Mary Suzan Abbo, the Managing Director for CREEC.
“CREEC has to ensure incorporate ingredients like knowledge management to ensure that the tools provided are usable to participants and this will be tracked by the centre to ensure impact.”
She appreciated the role of development partners and the ministry of Energy and Mineral Development for the support over the years leading up to this moment.
Abbo noted that there is a knowledge gap in the renewable energy sector and therefore initiatives such as those by CREEC are commendable.
“To achieve 100 electrification will require energy professionals to be ably skilled.”
Officials from the East African Centre for Excellence in Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (EACREEE) said they will continue to support initiatives like those by CREEC and Strathmore Energy Research Centre in the advancement and development of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies.
They encouraged trainees to transfer the skills and knowledge from the training to other people in the same field and create an endless chain of learning.
