Cooperation on clean energy technology between Norway and Jaffna Universities

The Western Norway University of Applied Sciences recently signed a collaboration agreement with the University of Jaffna on capacity building and establishing of a research consortium in nanomaterials for clean energy.

This collaboration which is worth 6.2 million Norwegian Kroners ( Rs. 112 million) over a period of three years is funded by the Norwegian Embassy as part of its development cooperation programme, the embassy said in a media release.

Norwegian Ambassador Thorbjørn Gaustadsæther who was present at the signing ceremony said he hoped this partnership on clean energy technology would bring new ideas and advances in sustainable energy solutions for Sri Lanka.

Part of the funding will be utilized to upgrade the laboratory facilities and for technical assistance and capacity building at the Faculty of Engineering and Faculty of Technology at the Kilinochchi campus and at the Faculty of Science at the Jaffna campus of the University of Jaffna.

One of the main aspects of this collaboration is the establishment of a consortium on clean energy technologies, which includes the partners and private enterprises in both Sri Lanka and in Norway. Clean energy technology is one of the priority sectors for Norway. Therefore, promotion of these technologies as well as building linkages between research and business is encouraged as this could lead to further investments in innovation, the release said.

In March of this year, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences and the University of Jaffna signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on educational and research cooperation at Masters and PhD level. Under the NORPART program, the two institutions collaborate on higher education and research in nanomaterials for clean energy technologies (HRCNET). Other institutions, such as the University of Bergen and the University of Agder from Norway, the University of Peradeniya from Sri Lanka, and Coimbatore Institute of Technology from India are also included as partners in this project.