MPhil Renewable Energy Technologies

Background information

Energy is now widely recognised as a critical input for achieving sustainable development.  Vital sectors of Sub-Sahara African (SSA) economies such as agriculture, education and health have failed to meet expectations partly because of poor access to modern energy services which have made it extremely difficult to develop many facilities like water resources for small-scale irrigation and potable water to ensure food security, infrastructure for lighting and communication. The poor living conditions in rural areas and the lack of employment opportunities have all contributed to social unrest, which is of national and international concern.

The failure of the conventional energy-based sector, in particular, for electricity generation, to live up to expectation, and the fluctuating price of crude oil have become major threats to sustainable development. Hence, the recent interest in renewable energy (RE). SSA receives an estimated average direct solar radiation of about 6 million Gigawatts (the highest for any region in the world) and has abundant bioenergy resources, in addition to other renewable resources like hydropower, wind energy and geothermal energy.

It has been observed that renewable energy has generally not attracted the requisite level of sector policy commitment and the appropriate public and private investment in SSA. This is due to the inadequate institutional frameworks and infrastructure, limited technical expertise and shortage of qualified personnel which present enormous challenges to accelerated renewable energy development, particularly, in the West African sub-region. The limited number of qualified personnel including engineers, technicians and policy makers has been identified as the main cause of failure of many renewable energy projects in the sub-region.

In 2011, The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana, the International Institute for Water and Environmental Engineering (2iE), Burkina Faso, and the Groupe de Rechercheen Electrotechnique et Automatique du Havre (GREAH) of the University of Le Havre, France, with financial support from the EU via the EDULINK Programme mounted an MSc Programme in Renewable Energy Technologies by e-Learning, in an effort to address the problems of:

• Limited number of skilled engineers in renewable energy technologies including solar photovoltaic (PV), wind and biofuels; and
• Low knowledge of RE Technology on the part of key actors in the public and private sectors, including energy policy makers and small/medium scale entrepreneurs.

The MSc programme, since then, has trained over a hundred engineers and scientists in RE technologies across the sub-region. To improve the programme to address unique challenges relevant to SSA and conduct research of relevance to the sub-region, the Norwegian government, NORAD, has provided a grant to the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology to support education and research activities from 2015-2019, and to further develop capacity to sustain the programme. Accordingly, KNUST’s MSc programme has been revised per new categorisation of graduate programmes in the School of Graduate Studies. The partner institutions involved in the programme implementation are the Norwegian University of Life Sciences and Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Aalesund Campus, all in Norway.

Aims and Objectives

At the end of the programme the student should be better equipped to:

• Conduct research based on sound methodological foundations
• Assess alternative cleaner energy alternatives to fossil fuels;
• Conduct a technical and economic assessment of cleaner energy alternatives, and propose policies to implement them;
• Utilise the knowledge acquired and experience to address problems associated with the energy industry;
• Solve real life energy problems;
• Write technical reports;
• Communicate effectively in official /leadership, management and team working environment.

Students’ admission, progression and graduation

Applicants with a minimum of second class lower degree or its equivalent from a recognised university in the following areas:

1. BSc Engineering;
2. BSc Physics, BSc Chemistry, BSc Mathematics, BSc Environmental Science;
3. Candidates must have a minimum of two years working experience in the renewable energy industry;
4. In addition, candidates with second class lower degrees must pass an interview.

For the award of the MPhil RETs, the student must have:

1. obtained a minimum pass mark of 50 % in any examination;
2. achieved a minimum credit of 57 credit hours;
3. obtained a minimum CWA of 55.00; and
4. submitted and successfully defended a thesis.

Employment:

A significant percentage of our graduates are already employed, however, for the few who may be looking for jobs, employment opportunities exist in the following areas:

1. Generation Companies like the Volta River Authority, and Aboadze Thermal Power Company;
2. Government Ministries like the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Power;
3. Regulatory institutions in the Ghana and the West African sub-region like the West Africa Power Pool, the Energy Commission of Ghana, the Public Utilities and Regulatory Commission;
4. Grid Management Companies like the Ghana Grid Company Limited;
5. The several renewable energy companies springing up in the country and the sub-region.

MODE OF APPLICATION

1. Applicants (International) must apply online. International applicants who are admitted will be required to pay an application fee of USD 200.00 before registration.
2. Candidates should proceed to online admissions website: KNUST Application Portal and begin the application process.
3. Once the process has been completed, candidates MUST PRINT OUT 2 COPIES of the completed application form from the portal and submit them (by post) to the School of Graduate Studies together with all relevant documents (Photocopies of Certificates, Recommendation Letters, and Transcript for those attending KNUST for the first time) to the following address:

The Secretary

School of Graduate Studies

KNUST

Kumasi-Ghana