President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Tuesday, invited the winners of the 2021 Energy Commission’s Senior High Schools’ Renewable Energy Challenge to Jubilee House.
The innovative competition, which is part of the ongoing Seventh Ghana Renewable Energy Fair, is slated for Thursday, 14th October.
The President extended the invitation in a speech read on his behalf at the opening of the Seventh Ghana Renewable Energy Fair in Accra.
The event, which is on the theme “Removing Barriers to Renewable Energy Development in Ghana” is being organised by the Energy Commission.
The introduction of the “Energy Commission’s Senior High Schools’ Renewable Energy Challenge” in 2019, saw schools in the Greater Accra Region participating in it.
This year’s Challenge has 90 Senior High and Technical Schools from across the country participating in it.
“This is very good news to hear and I am optimistic that more schools would even join in subsequent years,” the President said.
“I am expecting very brilliant young boys and girls from Mfanstiman Girls Senior High School; Mamfe Methodist Girls Senior High School; Accra Technical Training Centre; Gyaama Pensan Senior High Technical School; Acherensua Senior High School; and Navrongo Senior High School; who will be competing to make us proud.”
He urged the participants in the Competition to put in their best efforts and they would surely be awarded accordingly.
He charged the Energy Commission to ensure that the winning project was taken up and developed further in order to make it marketable.
“We should in the very near future see this Challenge produce breakthrough projects that shall make it to the global level.”
The President wished the participating students the best of luck in the Energy Competition.
“To the teachers and the Regional Science, Technology, Mathematics and Innovation Education (STMIE) Coordinators, thank you for your efforts in preparing these students.”
President Akufo-Addo said the Government was leaving no stone unturned in providing quality leadership in its quest to develop a sustainable energy economy with very few challenges.
He said it was therefore, a laudable idea to have stakeholders in the energy sector come together every year to deliberate and brainstorm on matters affecting the sector and present concrete measures to address them in order to ensure that industry players truly benefit from their investment.
He reiterated that the Ghana Renewable Energy Fair, which was now in its seventh year, was providing the platform for the above aim to be achieved.
“I believe that this can be extended to cover the entire energy sector in order to make the sector truly sustainable”.
Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, the Minister of Energy, said the Government as part of its efforts in opening up the renewable energy sector for investments, was exploring the regional market and positioning Ghana to become a major exporter of reliable and competitive electricity in the ECOWAS Region.
This, he said, would not only benefit Ghana in terms of foreign exchange earnings, but would also contribute to the regional economic inclusiveness strategy, strengthening energy security and peace in the sub region.
Professor Ebenezer Oduro Owusu, the Chairman of the Governing Council of the Energy Commission, said the Ghana Renewable Energy Fair, which was now in its seventh year, aims at providing a platform for collaboration between the Government, the private sector and the civil society in the renewable energy industry for the promotion of renewable energy.