Ghana - Creation and electrification of a training center which specializes in renewable energies in rural areas

Presentation of the association and the context

Village Exchange

The Village Exchange group of associations aims to improve the living conditions of women in rural areas of developing countries through education, training and social entrepreneurship in a way that respects their culture, traditions and the local environment.

Context of the project

In February 2015, Village Exchange Ghana (VEG), a local partner of Village Exchange France (VEF), created a technical school specializing in electricity called the «Lady Volta Green Tech Academy», which included some notions on renewable energies in the curriculum.
From 2015 to 2017, the school trained and prepared about ten young people per year for the State examinations of the National Vocational Training Institute. To enable some students to access a higher diploma provided by the Ghana Energy Commission, and to more specifically develop renewable energy education, VEF and VEG have decided to create and electrify a specific training centre within the Lady Volta Green Tech Academy to improve the level of training of students in Solar Energy techniques.
The overall objective of the project is to provide technical vocational training to disadvantaged young people in rural areas, with a focus on women who have limited access to technical professions.

Presentation of the project

The energy issue

While 79.3% of Ghana had access to energy in 2016 (World Bank data 2018), rural areas are lagging behind. Moreover, an electrified village does not mean that all houses have electricity. Often, there is street lighting in the middle of the village and villagers cannot afford to connect their homes to the grid. At the launch of the International Solar Alliance in India, the Ghanaian government announced its commitment to using renewable energies. However, it focuses its efforts on the north of the country and the Volta Region, which is very agricultural and is largely forgotten in development plans. Several hard-to-reach villages near Ho are not connected to the grid and still do not have access to electricity.

The adopted solutions

The main objective of the project is education; it aims to train 20 young people per year, who have already acquired technical knowledge, turning them into Re-newable Energy experts capable of meeting the energy needs of their region. The Lady Volta Green Tech Academy will be self-sufficient in terms of energy, powered by a 5kW photovoltaic power plant coupled with a wind turbine.
The first session will include the students’ participation in the construction of the power plant simultaneously with the theoretical courses. The installation of this solar power plant will be used for practical work.
The project also plans to install solar panels on 10 houses in 2019 to supply villages not served by the local grid.