Noguchi inaugurates solar electricity system Daily Graphic April 18,2013

A Solar Electricity Generation system to provide 315 kilowatt electric energy for the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) of the University of Ghana has been inaugurated.
The $7.6million project, which was funded by the Government of Japan, constitutes the first  and second phase to provide additional energy for the institute to carry out its mandate into research.
At a ceremony in Accra  last Tuesday to inaugurate the project, the Director of the NMIMR, Professor Kwadwo Ansah Koram, said the system would help reduce energy cost to the University and reduce carbon emission.
He said the second phase of the project  which was yet to commence would provide an additional 400KWh, totalling up to 720KWh energy to the institute .
“This would add on to the electrical power generation in the country and the excess beyond the immediate requirement of the institute will feed into the grid supply to the rest of the university, “ he said.
Besides the immediate cost savings, the Director said there would be reduction in carbon emission which would virtually lead to less deleterious impact on environment.
The Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Professor Ernest Aryeetey, said the system would enhance the institute’s mandate of conducting research into communicable and non-communicable diseases in Africa as well as support the institute to provide high  laboratory diagnostic and monitoring services.
In a speech read on his behalf, the Minister of Energy and Petroleum,  Mr Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah, said the solar system was the first large scale project since the passage of the Renewable Energy law, Act 832.
He explained that the law sought to create the enabling environment for the development of renewable energy resources in Ghana. 
He described the project as a demonstration of the role of solar energy to cost effective energy conservation and management as well as reliability and security of electricity supply.
For his part, the Japanese Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Naoto Nikai, urged the government to make provision for the necessary resources to maintain the solar generation plant.

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