Finland Futures Research Centre
Institutional Partnership between Institute of Technology of Cambodia and Finland Futures Research Centre
Cambodia's power supply facilities, along with other infrastructure, were heavily damaged by war. Currently, over 84% of the primary energy consumption is provided by fuel wood and less than 9% of rural households have access to grid-quality electricity services. Most of the people in rural areas still use firewood as cooking fuel, kerosene for lighting, and lead-acid rechargeable batteries for household appliances.
The way people use energy is often inefficient, inconvenient, and environmentally unsustainable. Efforts by the Royal Government of Cambodia to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), especially the goal of halving the number of poor, will be impaired unless adequate attention is paid to the crucial role of energy services in this development process. The long-term aim of the Royal Government of Cambodia is to achieve 100% electrification of households by 2020 (including off-grid electrification). Thus, there is a stringent need for energy professionals specialised in renewable energy technologies in order to achieve sustainable energy sector development, to increase the use of new and renewable energy resources in energy production and to support national self-sufficiency in energy.
Objectives
The University level education in the field of renewable energy in Cambodia is lacking human and equipment resources. Institute of Technology of Cambodia (ITC) is the leading university providing education in the energy field, but the capacity of ITC is however, not adequate to respond to the increasing needs of renewable energy education. The target of this Institutional Partnership project is the capacity development in ITC and creation of Master’s degree programme in Energy Engineering. Strengthening the capacities of ITC consists of curriculum development and capacity building in the form of planning lecture series, development of teaching methods, networking and joint participatory research training.
Activities
Capacity building activities will be directed at the staff of the Department of Electrical and Energy Engineering (EEE) in ITC. Capacity building activities in the field of sustainable energy education include:
- Evaluation of the proficiency level of staff
- Identification of the need for development and teaching activities
- Development of teaching methods
- Capacity Building lectures/workshops
- Training courses abroad for the staff of the EEE-department.
Within the framework of the capacity building objectives, also the teaching facilities will be improved. The establishment of an 'Energy technology and energy efficiency laboratory’ will provide the department with laboratory equipment that will be used for technical education and research.
The project lasts one year and is funded by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland.
FFRC Team
- Jyrki Luukkanen, Project Leader
- Venla Kinnunen, Project Manager
- Jari Kaivo-oja, Expert Advisor
Contact: firstname.lastname@tse.fi
Cambodia Team:
- Romny Om, Deputy Director
- Davin Uy, Director of Research and Development
- Phol Norith, Head of Department
External experts:
- Yrjö Majanne, Expert Advisor, Trainer
- Juha Leppänen, Expert Advisor, Trainer
- Suvisanna Mustonen, Expert Advisor, Trainer
FINLAND FUTURES RESEARCH CENTRE