2023-05-10 22:51:50
After five years of work, the first renewable energy research center was created in Oyo, 400 km from Brazzaville. So far, electricity has been supplied by gas-fired power stations and hydro-electric dams. This vast research center therefore aims to diversify clean energy sources for the country. The first researchers are expected this week in Oyo. From our correspondent in Brazzaville, Laboratories and other research workshops, as well as accommodation for researchers who will come from Congo, Africa and the rest of the world, have been erected on a vast plot of 10,000 square meters. The cost of construction of the Oyo center is estimated at 24 million euros, or 15.7 billion FCFA. The missions of this establishment are varied. A few are specified here by Gabin Dimitri Ngatso, researcher and scientific research attaché at the Ministry in charge of Scientific Research: “The idea behind is to strengthen energy capacities in renewable energies, to ensure an extension of the rural and urban electrification. ► Also to listen: The energy crisis is causing a boom in small solar installations in South Africa Measuring the potential According to Gabin Dimitri Ngatso, the potential for so-called “clean” energy is invaluable in Congo: “We have great potential for electrical energy renewable. They revolve around hydroelectricity, biomass, wind and solar. The objectives of the Oyo center will consist in carrying out studies on these potentialities with a view to exploiting them and producing energy. For now, this potential is only exploited at a very low level. “I will take the case of hydroelectricity. We have a production capacity of 22,000 megawatts. But it turns out that to date, less than 3% of all this potential is used,” Mr. Ngatso points out. ► To listen also: Renewable energies in Africa: a potential still little exploited Energy and protection of the environment What can renewable energies concretely bring to Congo? Dr Arnaud Tamba Sokila, Scientific Director of the National Institute of Engineering Science, replies: “We already know that energy in general develops a country. When the energy is stable, the country prospers. Therefore, the expectations on renewable energies will be the same as those on fossil fuels. The only difference is in terms of environmental protection,” he says. The Oyo research center will benefit from funding of 1.5 million euros, or nearly 1 billion FCFA, to support research activities on renewable energies. ► To read also: Congo-Brazzaville wants to develop tourism to diversify its economy
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