By Mohammed Mohammed
The Federal Government through the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, is concluding arrangement with the People’s Republic of China on the development of a renewable energy research center that will boost renewable energy technology in some selected Nigerian Universities.
The proposed partnership between the Chinese and Nigerian Universities is expected to build and upgrade centres of excellence in renewable energy technologies which include: green energy-solar, wind, hydro, bio-energy, energy efficiency and management.
At a courtesy call to the Ministry on Friday in Abuja, the Minister of state for Science, Technology and Innovation, Barr. Mohammed Abdullahi said prior to the Chinese engagement, the Ministry had an ongoing discussion on engineering collaboration with the intent to sign a Memorandum of Understanding particularly in the areas of exchange of knowledge, ideas, equipment and learning problems with some selected Universities in the country focusing on technology.
The Minister received on behalf of the Ministry a donation of solar panel equipment from the department of Commerce of Yunan Province and Kunming Engineering Corporation Ltd of the People’s Republic of China.
Abdullahi, averred that the support received from China is going to help to stem the tide of urban rural migration, as lack of power is the major problem in both urban and rural areas.
He further stated that Ministry will appoint a committee to look at the process of selecting beneficiaries in the rural areas to see how they can be deployed.
The country representative of Power China in Nigeria, Mr. Ji Yuxin, said that the donation is in line with promoting green technology in rural communities and is a part of the “Belt and road initiative.
He added that the donation is a project that aims to provide the solution of electricity shortages in rural areas where the national grid is not accessible.
