Dr. Benjamin Batinge, a Research Fellow at the Regional Centre for Energy and Environmental Sustainability (RCEES) of the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR) located in Sunyani Ghana, paid a research visit to the University of Oldenburg (UOL) from 23rd to 28th April 2023. The visit was part of an academic collaboration between the two universities as part of our collaboration on the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GlZ)-funded project: Green People’s Energy for Africa (GBE).
The partnership between the two universities was established through the Postgraduate Programme in Renewable Energy (PPRE) at UOL and the Masters in Sustainable Energy Engineering and Management at UENR. Collaborative energy solutions are developed by master's students in the Sustainable Energy Management programme at both institutions.
The visit consisted of several activities: an orientation to the University of Oldenburg, a lecture on "Solar Irrigation" as part of our "PV Systems" course, the completion of the final GBE report, the composition of an academic paper based on the jointly held seminar "Case Study" in the winter semester of 22/23, and an exploration of potential avenues for expanding the collaboration between UENR and UOL.
The collaborative approach involved putting together six mixed teams of University of Energy and Natural Resources master students from the Sustainable Energy Engineering and Management Master’s programme in Ghana and PPRE students from Oldenburg and giving each team a research task.
One group was tasked with analysing a solar-powered irrigation system in Ghana and providing recommendations for its optimization. An additional group investigated the optimization of land utilisation via agrovaltaic practices. Lastly, a group resolved the issue of how a chicken farm located in Lower Saxony, Germany, could utilise renewable energy sources to ensure the continuity of their energy supply. Extremely isolated, the chicken farm frequently experiences power outages.
The contextual cross-learning and international collaborative experiences were valued by the students. Internet connectivity, time constraints, and additional technical issues are anticipated to be resolved in future collaborations. During the winter semester, the two academic institutions plan to sustain their partnership via the International Virtual Academic Collaboration (IVAC) Project.
The project was being conducted by Dr. Hans Holtorf and Ms. Gloria Esinam Boateng on behalf of UOL, and by Prof. Eric Ofosu Antwi and Dr. Benjamin Batinge on behalf of UENR.
Dr. Hans Holtorf taught at Faculty V – Mathematics and Natural Sciences at Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg in the Postgraduate Programmes Renewable Energy and focuses on off-grid energy service supply and possible renewable energy designs, including applications in sunbelt countries.
Dr. Benjamin Batinge is currently working as a research fellow at the Regional Center for Energy and Environmental Sustainability (RCEES) of the Ghanaian University of Energy and Natural Resources. He is the counterpart of the postgraduate programme at the University of Oldenburg.
Ms. Gloria Boateng-Esinam studied postgraduate programmes in renewable energy at UOL in Germany from 2018 to 2020. Before, she did her BSc. in the Renewable Energy Engineering programme at the UENR from 2012 to 2016 in Ghana. After studying in Oldenburg, she worked as a research assistant at the University of Oldenburg and currently lives in Oldenburg.
Text by: Dr. Benjamin Batinge.