Speaking at the event on Thursday, November 15, 2018 at the Main Campus, the founder, Prof. Liu said Microgrid which is already gaining ground in the United Kingdom is a direct current/alternative current network for built environment with embedded solar photovoltaic panels, energy storage, direct current loads and electric vehicle charges connected to the direct current chargers.

He said to him, air-conditions, refrigerators, water pumping machines and electrical vehicles can be powered direct from renewable power at over 98.6%, adding that it is very suitable for Nigeria and Africa at large for its efficiency, less need for large scale infrastructure or expensive grid connectivity.

Prof. Liu said they were in the University to check the facilities of the institution with the hope of partnering with FUTMinna so as to finalise the documentation process of the United Kingdom (UK) energy catalyst Round 6 competition.

According to him, the intention of Entrust is to provide training platform empowerment for students which is absolutely critical not just for academic purpose but for commercial purpose to empower them.

He disclosed that they plan to set up a power plant in Nigeria.

In his response, the Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Prof Abdullahi Bala, fsssn, welcomed the team and appreciated them for having FUTMinna in mind. He noted that he is happy with the partnership because it is in line with the University’s aspiration and their visit is an opportunity for the institution to scale up its capacity in the area of renewable energy, adding that the University is into similar partnership in the area of agriculture.

Prof. Bala pointed out that his interest is largely in the fact that students are involved, which would provide them first class practical experience that allows them to start on their own after graduation.

“To us, that is the pride that we are in the position to provide students such opportunities that makes them more competitive,” he said.

He noted that in the last one week the employment ranking of universities ranked FUT, Minna as number four in Nigeria in terms of employable graduates and that this is because of the premium placed in providing students with practical experience.