The National Mathematical Centre (NMC) on Monday began a-three-day training on Renewable Energy Physics for postgraduate students and others to address the challenges of sustainable power supply in the country.
Speaking at the virtual training at Sheda, Kwali Area Council, Abuja, Dr Obagboye Lewis, Acting Coordinator, Theoretical Physics Programme, NMC, said for a country to fully harness its potentials the aspect of energy physics had to be considered.
Lewis said that there was the need to enhance the current level of power generation in the country, which he said was below its capacity.
He, therefore, said that the training aimed to select a research group from the six geopolitical zones that would work on the best ways to achieve energy security in Nigeria.
Lewis said that the programme also targeted graduate assistants, postgraduate students, lecturers and engineers in renewable energy-related fields.
“The main purpose for organising this programme is because of the energy issues that faced the entire world today; besides the global outlook, Nigeria is a very good example that we can take a clue from.
“We actually have a potential to generate about 13,000 megawatts per day considering the number of energy sources that we have.
“But in spite of all the potentials we have, what we generate daily is about 4,000 megawatts, so you will observe that we are far behind what is necessary.
“In fact, in the African continent, it’s only South Africa that can be said to have reached a certain level of potential and energy translate to development.
“So if any country wants to develop this aspect of energy physics must be looked into,’’ Lewis said.
He noted that besides the power generation, the side effect of fossil fuel in the environment could not be quantified.
“The reason why the country experiences flood year in year out is because of the energy usage from the numerous energy sources that it has which are not renewable.
“So, we are trying to see how we can have a critical mass of students nationwide; the selection will be done in such a way that we have students from the six geopolitical zones,” Lewis added.
The participants at the virtual training were over 70 spread across the six geopolitical zones.
