Category: News

Arumugam Pirashanthan, Kajana Thirunavukarasu and Shanmugaratnam Sivagowri from University of Jaffna who are currently attached to Western Norway University of Applied Sciences under the NORPART mobilty program attended “International Webinar on Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Chemistry” held on 12th March 2021 conducted by Scientific Meditech, London. Research scholars are also attached to the CBERC project funded by the Royal Nowegian Embassy, Sri Lanka. Miss. Kajana Thirunavukarasu had an oral presentation on her research findings entitled “A Novel Heterostructured Ag2CrO4: SnS Nanomaterial for Energy Conversion & Storage”.

On Tuesday the 9th of March, our PhD research fellow Gz. MeeNilankco Theiventhan had his midterm evaluation at the University of Oslo digitally. The evaluation started with a presentation by MeeNilankco, he presented his paper titled “Titanic encounters: Energy as a geopolitical battleground in Sri Lanka”. After the presentation, Prof. David Jordhus-Lier (UiO), as the reviewer and evaluator, shared his comments on the paper and progress plan. A useful discussion followed where MeeNilankco’s supervisors’ also contributed to the discussion.

The first seminar of the ANCEHA research group was held on 12/02/2021. Associate Professor Dr. Bentouba Said presented the topic of the seminar, which was on Renewable energies, research development, challenges and opportunities.

Further to the seminar, the research group also discussed possible new expansion and collaboration on hydrogen production. Currently the ANCEHA research group is focusing on hydrogen related research in collaboration with research institutes in India. This collaborative research includes hydrogen production from salt water. Currently two students from Alahappa University, India are at HVL for their experiments and research stays related to this collaborative research. The ANCEHA research group will be focusing on similar research expansion in Sri Lanka in the near future.

HVL is currently upgrading its laboratory facilities for the clean energy technologies, which are intended to cater to the advancing of clean energy technological research carried out by the research group comprising of students from HVL and collaborating universities in India and Sri Lanka.

 

Floating solar panels for clean energy production is considered to be another promising route for Sri Lanka on its journey towards achieving renewable energy targets in view of its vast number of existing natural and man-made water bodies.

As yet another collaborative initiative between Norway and Sri Lanka, the Ambassador to Norway in Sri Lanka, HE Trine Jøranli Eskedal, declared opened the first floating solar power plant on 24 January, 2020 as an introductory step to be used as a floating research lab as well as an information sharing base including being an educational exhibit to encourage and enthuse the native population at large towards transitioning to clean energy. Reflecting the collaborative project work between the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences and the University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka, this first floating solar panel was launched in the premises of the University of Jaffna, Kilinochchi campus.

The 42 kW energy produced by this exhibition plant will partly electrify the university premises in this campus. The project was made possible with the support of Innovation Norway and the Norwegian energy group Equinor. The floating solar plant was designed and developed by Current Solar
AS, a Norwegian solar developer. This particular design is based on Norwegian marine knowhow from offshore and aquaculture industries and innovatively combines the use of composite beams for mounting the solar panels.

On her visit, the Ambassador also inspected the Clean Energy Research Lab at the University of Jaffna which was also assisted by the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Sri Lanka to promote research on clean energy technologies.

The Royal Norwegian Embassy in Sri Lanka together with the University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka and the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences hosted an expert panel discussion on 21 January, 2020 under the title ‘A New Decade: Investing in Clean Energy in Sri Lanka – Drivers and Barriers’. The conference was held at the Galle Face Hotel, Colombo, Sri Lanka. This conference brought together several key actors, stakeholders and experts from the Sri Lankan clean energy sector as well as a delegation from Norway for the panel discussion.

Sri Lanka is a signatory to the Paris Climate Agreement and shares the vision and commitment to achieving carbon neutral status by 2050. The sustainable way of progressing towards achieving this commitment is through investing in clean energy technologies to tackle future energy demands while also reducing the emissions. Collaborations between governments, private sector, researchers and higher education institutions are therefore crucial for such endeavour. In this regard, Norway and Sri Lanka have partnered and are laying greater emphasis on collaborating on clean energy technologies. This partnership in research, development and investments in clean energy between Norway and Sri Lanka resulted in the establishment of a clean energy consortium in 2018 bringing together private enterprises, academics and researchers from both countries. This was made possible with the financial assistance from the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Sri Lanka. The consortium builds linkages between research and industry between both countries and encourages advancement, investments, partnerships and joint ventures towards low carbon solutions with an increased focus on solar energy generation. The conference was part of this initiative.

The expert panellists consisted of Sturle H. Pedersen, Chairman of Norwegian clean energy company Greenstat Hydrogen Asia, Nalin de Silva, Senior Professor from the University of Colombo, Asanka S. Rodrigo, Director General of Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority, Senarathna Banda, Deputy General Manager of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) Renewable Energy Development Division, S. Renganathan, CEO and Managing Director of Commercial Bank of Sri Lanka, and Kamal Dorabawila, Principal Investment Officer of International Finance Corporation (IFC). The session was moderated by Prof. Rohini M. de Silva from the University of Colombo.

Prior to the panel discussion the welcome address was delivered by the Norwegian Ambassador to Sri Lanka, HE Trine Joranli Eskedal where she highlighted the need for greater collaboration in research, development and investment on clean energy. This was followed by Prof. Kathirgamanathan Kandasamy, Vice Chancellor of the University of Jaffna and Prof. Dhayalan Velauthapillai, head of the research group on Advanced Nano Materials for Clean Energy and Health Applications of Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, who gave a brief overview on the collaborative work being undertaken between the universities in Norway and Sri Lanka. Inge Vikesdal, CEO Current Solar AS Norway, detailed their engagement in putting up the pilot floating solar plant in the University of Jaffna – Kilinochchi premises. Nanthini Nagarajah, a PhD Research Fellow of Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, presented the outline of her study on the drivers and barriers to clean energy transition in Sri Lanka.

The panel discussion was the main segment of the event and dealt with not only the promising potential in Sri Lanka for renewables but also the number of challenges the country faces in moving towards and transitioning to renewables and becoming more efficient users of energy. The panellists responded to questions from the audience in their area of expertise. Approximately sixty participants participated in the event.

ANCEHA research group organised a weekly webinar with its collaborating partners to share knowledge, enhance research and build strong bonds among the partners to promote high-quality research during the pandemic. University of Jaffna (UoJ), Sri Lanka, Coimbatore Institute of Technology (CIT) and PSG College of Technology from India and the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (HVL) took part in the weekly webinars.

The first webinar took place on 13th of June 2020. Venkatraman Madurai Ramakrishnan, Research Scholar – CIT and Siva Uthayaraj, Research Scholar – UoJ gave presentations. Venkatraman in his presentation spoke about the direct comparison on the properties of the TiO2 nanoparticles prepared by microwave and solvothermal methods using the identical initial precursor. Further, its performance as photoanode in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) was discussed. The power conversion efficiency was found to be higher for TiO2 prepared by microwave method than the other counterparts. Here the essential parameters for the optimum performance of dye-sensitized solar cells were also discussed.

Siva Uthayaraj’s Presentation was titled “Single walled carbon nanotube incorporated Titanium dioxide and Poly (3-hexylthiophene) as electron and hole transport materials for perovskite solar cells”. The presentation included a brief introduction on perovskite solar cells followed by the recent challenges, recent research findings and proposed future works.

The second webinar was hosted on the 20th of June and Dr. M.Thanihaichelvan from UoJ and Rajaramanan Tharmakularasa Research scholar, UoJ presented their research.

The final webinar of the month took place on the 27th of June and Sandhiya Chennakrishnan, Research Scholar, CIT and Sivagowri Shanmugaratnam, Research Scholar, UoJ presented their research. Sandhiya’s presentation was titled “Nanomaterials Approach for Improving Cathode in Lithium Ion Battery”.

An international conference on Advanced Materials for Clean Energy & Health Applications (AMCEHA 2019)
was organized jointly by University of Jaffna (UoJ) and Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (HVL)
from 6th to 8th of February 2019. The conference was funded by NFR, DICU, Royal Norwegian Embassy in Sri
Lanka, Sustainable Energy Authority and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Research in Sri Lanka. Over
400 delegates, including 120 foreign delegates from countries such as Norway, India, Canada, Australia, UK,
Bangladesh, Sudan, Sweden, Finland, Egypt, China, Japan and USA participated at this unique conference. Over
180 research articles were submitted and up to 140 research articles have been selected and presented after
peer-review process. Altogether 20 researchers from HVL, UiB, UiO and IFE and industry participated at the
conference. Selected quality papers will be published as full-scaled articles in ‘Science Citation Indexed’
journals such as MDPI-‘Materials’ and ‘Materials Today’ in the coming weeks after another set of peer-review
process by the respective publishers.
The participants at AMCEHA 2019 comprised of experts, eminent scientists, industrial representatives from
local & foreign companies and students of higher learning in Clean energy technologies and Health
applications. The conference was organized under the two collaborative projects
(http://project.jfn.ac.lk/hrncet/) between UoJ and HVL: Higher Education and Research collaboration on
Nanomaterials for clean Energy Technologies (HRNCET) and Capacity Building and Establishment of a research
Consortium (CBERC) funded by Center for Norwegian Centre for International Cooperation in Education (SIU)
and Royal Norwegian Embassy in Sri Lanka, respectively. The conference and the workshop were co-chaired
by Professor Dhayalan Velauthapillai from Western Norway University of Applied Sciences and Professor P.
Ravirajan of the Department of Physics, University of Jaffna. The first two days of the conference were held at
Main premises of the University of Jaffa in Thirunelvely and the third day at the Faculty of Engineering in
Kilinochchi premises.
Inauguration ceremony was commenced after procession of invited speakers and guest, lighting of oil lamp
and welcome song and dance performed by the students from Ramanathan Academy of Fine Arts of the
university. His Excellency Thorbjørn Gaustadsæter, Ambassador at The Royal Norwegian Embassy in Colombo
was the chief guest and Prof. P.S.M. Gunaratne, Head, Research and International Cooperation & Vice
Chairman, University Grants Commission, Sri Lanka was the Guest of Honour Prof.R.Vigneswaran, Vice
Chancellor, Prof.G.Mikunthan, Dean/Graduate Studies at University of Jaffna, Rector Berit Rokne and Henning

Report
Norheim, director at HVL welcomed the gathering. Apart from the scientific activities, the conference also
provided opportunities for signing MoUs and agreements for collaboration and co-operation in higher
education and research between University of Jaffna and GEXCON: a world-renowned company in safety
measures (https://www.gexcon.com/news/Gexcon-signed-MoU-with-University-of-Jaffna/230/en) as well as
HVL and NIFS, Sri Lanka.
On behalf of the University Council, the vice-chancellor of the University of Jaffna appreciated Professor
Dhayalan Velauthapillai with a memento for his efforts in winning and executing two major projects worth of
over LKR 200 million to promote Higher Education and Research Collaboration at the university of Jaffna and
Western Norway University of Applied Sciences through students – staff mobility programmes, conducting
international conferences, outreach activities in schools and developing Master degree programmes, since the
signing of the MOU with the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences in March 2017
(http://www.jfn.ac.lk/index.php/mou-norpart/).
After the inauguration ceremony, four plenary talks were delivered by eminent scientists in the fields of
nanomaterials for solar cells, health applications and energy storage systems. An interactive poster session
was followed by one-minute spotlight presentation of each poster. Up to thirty posters were displayed by the
authors after the spotlight session.
The second day of the conference (http://conf.jfn.ac.lk/amceha/index.php/programme/) was organized under
four different symposiums with themes Solar energy applications; Advanced Materials for Health Applications;
Advanced functional materials; and Wind/Hydrogen/Bioenergy and Storage applications. Each symposium had
four plenary and invited lectures and more than 30 contributed papers. On the second day of the conference,
a considerable number of dentists and the students from the medical faculty attended the session led by world
renowned Skandinavian scientists in regenerative medicine.
Sri Lankan and Norwegian workshop on Clean Energy Applications was held at the Faculty of Engineering,
Kilinochchi as the third day of the conference which was co-chaired by Professor Dhayalan Velauthapillai from
Western Norway University of Applied Sciences and Professor A.Atputharajah, Dean/Engineering. It was
attended by most of the participants of the conference, other industrialists, policy makers from the
government sector, investors and representatives from clean energy enterprises in Sri Lanka. In order to realize
new innovations, researchers need the active support of the industry. Especially in the clean energy sector,
the industrial involvement will help us in implementing new innovative clean energy technological solutions.
Thus, on Friday, in collaboration with Sustainable Energy Authority in Sri Lanka, multiple sessions were
arranged to discuss on the challenges and possibilities in implementing clean energy solutions in Sri Lanka. The
first part was to look back at the Clean Energy Seminar held in Colombo in May 2018 and identify the progress
made in different aspects of clean energy technologies and to discuss the way forward in the future. Local and
Norwegian clean energy companies presented their activities. An interactive session was also arranged to
discuss the possibilities in enhancing collaboration in higher education in the field of clean energy technologies
between Sri Lankan, Norwegian and Indian Universities. Expatriates from various countries presented their
ideas on how the expatriate community contribute in capacity building at University of Jaffna.
This international conference is considered as an historical event of the university of Jaffna with more than
120 foreign participants, and students, academics, officials and all the national and international delegates
had praised the conference as one of the best conferences they have attended. The conference is
characterized as of high quality and well organized. AMCEHA 2019 has contributed in widening the research
networks working on nano materials for clean energy and health applications; the academic personal have
broadened their research network and the students have got international exposure and are really inspired by
high quality research presentations. In addition, the participants at the conference had also an opportunity to
enjoy the hospitality of the people in the region.
Oraginising committee of AMCEHA – 2019, acknowledge Norwegian Research Council, Royal Norwegian Embassy in
Colombo, Norwegian Centre for International Cooperation in Education (SIU), , Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority and
Mininstry of Science, Technology and Research for their generous financial support.

Clean Energy Research Laboratory (CERL) at the University of Jaffna was declared open by HE Thorbjørn Gaustadsæther, Ambassador of Norway and Berit Rokne, Rector of the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences. Capacity building of University of Jaffna on clean energy technologies on the 11th May 2018.  Open CERL Laboratory will enhance the research on nano-materials for clean energy applications. The Lab will also facilitate the following outcomes:

• A high-quality laboratory facility will improve the quality of research and will encourage the private sector to involve in research with universities.
• Involvement of expatriates from Norway in knowledge transfer from Norway to Sri Lanka through visiting lectures, technical assistance and workshops.
• Recruitment of qualified candidates to carry out Master and PhD research on clean energy and capacity building of the Staff at the university.

Through the project, the Norwegian Embassy has funded the Establishment of clean room facilities at the University of Jaffna with the following instruments: Glovebox, Solar stimulator, XRD, Fume Hood and the Laboratory workstation system.