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UNILAG Urged To Explore Floating Solar Farm To Address Electricity Needs
UNILAG Urged To Explore Floating Solar Farm To Address Electricity Needs
Degeconek Nigeria CEO Abiodun Adesanya proposes floating solar panels on UNILAG’s waterfront to overcome land constraints.
Proposal highlights the need for locally tailored renewable energy solutions to Nigeria’s electricity challenges.
UNILAG researchers call for interdisciplinary research to address interconnected economic, health, and environmental problems.
October 21, () – The University of Lagos has been urged to explore a floating solar farm on its waterfront to expand electricity generation amid limited land for conventional solar installations.
The Chief Executive Officer of Degeconek Nigeria Limited, Abiodun Adesanya, proposed while delivering a keynote address on the future of energy at the university’s 19th Annual Research Conference and Fair.
Adesanya said floating solar panels could offer an alternative to ground-mounted installations on campuses where much of the available land had already been developed.
He argued that Nigeria needed practical, locally adapted energy solutions that harness available natural resources to address persistent electricity shortages.
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“The idea of a solar farm: the more the number of solar panels, the more electricity you generate. So where would you install the solar panels? They’ve been installed on rooftops, but you can have a vast open space of land if you have land”, he said.
The proposal would allow UNILAG to consider using its waterfront for solar generation rather than competing with existing academic buildings and other facilities for land. However, the address did not disclose a proposed project capacity, estimated cost, implementation timeline, or projected electricity output.
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University of Lagos Vice Chancellor Prof Folasade Ogunsola Photo credit UNILAG
Research Focus Shifts To Integrated Solutions
The proposal was presented at the conference themed “Sustainable Frontiers: Integrating Systems for Food Security, Health, Housing and Humanity for Combating Global Challenges.”
The university’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Folasade Ogunsola, represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Management Services), Prof. Muyiwa Falaiye, said the theme reflected the interconnected challenges confronting societies and the need for interdisciplinary research.
She identified climate volatility, geopolitical instability, public health vulnerabilities and economic displacement as challenges that increasingly overlap and require coordinated responses.
“Universities play a pivotal role in generating knowledge, fostering innovation, and providing evidence-based solutions to contemporary global issues”, she said.
Falaiye called for stronger links between research, policy and practical implementation to build more resilient communities.
“To combat these intersecting global challenges, we must stop operating in silos. We must cross the frontier into radical integration”, she added.
The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academics and Research), Prof. Matthew Olusoji Ilori, also said complex global problems required solutions that crossed traditional academic boundaries.
For UNILAG, the floating solar proposal offers a potential research and infrastructure opportunity. Its viability would depend on technical assessments of the waterfront, installation and maintenance costs, environmental considerations, grid integration, and the amount of electricity the system could supply to the university.
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