LATEST NEWS

Entura’s clean energy and water institute (ECEWI) collaborates with Tenaga Nasional University to deliver hydropower training in Pakistan

20 September, 2022

Entura’s clean energy and water institute (ECEWI) is collaborating with Malaysia’s Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN) to deliver international hydropower training in Pakistan for the Energy Development, Services Management and Technology (EDSMAT) Program of the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT).

The collaboration comes as the third phase of EDSMAT led by AIT’s Yunus Center. The World Bank-supported program is a transnational capacity building venture for Pakistan’s Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA).

As part of the program, ECEWI and UNITEN’s Department of Civil Engineering and Institute of Energy Infrastructure will provide training on 5 key areas of hydropower, including project and contract management, engineering design, operation, maintenance and protection of dam structures, construction management and quality control, dam safety and disaster prevention, environmental and social safeguards and health and safety standards for hydropower projects.

The training will be delivered at the WAPDA Staff College in Islamabad, Pakistan, with UNITEN providing on-the-ground training along with AIT trainers, and ECEWI delivering virtual sessions on key topics.

“We’re pleased to be supporting AIT and WAPDA again through this important training program. Our decade-long collaboration with both AIT and UNITEN has now combined to share our joint knowledge and expertise to WAPDA,” said ECEWI’s Director, Amanda Ashworth.

“It is far reaching and will aim to transfer knowledge and reinforce even more capability and capacity to deliver on Pakistan’s sustainable hydropower goals.”

“We know that our people assets are fundamental to a successful asset management strategy and culture, and it’s their skills and capabilities that are critical to successfully delivering on organisational goals. This is why we at Entura strongly believe in the importance of knowledge sharing and upskilling across international borders.”

“Since virtual learning was forced on us by COVID restrictions, we have made great progress on incorporating a range of flexibility into the way we deliver training. Our virtual/remote learning is very different from what many people think of when they envisage ‘online learning’. We aim to deliver an excellent student experience by using new platforms and tools to maximise human interaction and engagement beyond the classroom,” said Amanda.

“We are pleased to be sharing our knowledge in support of this training program to boost Pakistan’s energy sector capacity and the sustainable development of available hydropower resources to meet the demand for clean, reliable and affordable energy,” said Datin Professor Ir Dr Lariyah Mohd Sidek of UNITEN.

“AIT is excited to see our decade-long collaboration with Entura extend to UNITEN, bringing the best of learning resources in hydropower to WAPDA training facilities in Pakistan. WAPDA’s investment in EDSMAT, with World Bank support since 2012, has benefitted 500 executives and staff from WAPDA and its allied agencies. The present phase will reach a further 480 WAPDA engineers from across the country. As a regional knowledge hub, AIT is happy to help address Pakistan’s water and energy priorities. Together with ECEWI and UNITEN, AIT can accomplish our work with much greater confidence,” said Faiz Shah, EDSMAT Director at AIT.

About ECEWI

Entura’s clean energy and water institute (ECEWI) was established in 2012 and has delivered more than 200 courses to 2,550 people in 24 countries over that time. ECEWI’s capability programs are designed and customised to suit the needs of our clients, and cover the full scope of Entura’s expertise, across hydropower, dam design, safety, water management, environmental management, hydrology and more.