Africa Energy Forum and AFSIA celebrate winners in 15 categories during the AFSIA Solar Awards 2020

Solar picture of the year

The inaugural AFSIA Solar Awards, organized in partnership with the Africa Energy Forum (aef) (https://www.Africa-Energy-Forum.com), culminated in a grand show streamed online on 29th October. During this ceremony, the winners of 15 categories were unveiled and celebrated.More than 130 entries were submitted across the different categories from all over the continent over the past few months. The Jury, composed of leading experts in solar energy in Africa, have carefully evaluated each entry to identify the most deserving companies and individuals to be awarded the grand prize during this online ceremony.Among the 15 categories in competition this year, the most disputed titles included “C&I Project of the Year” and “Mini-Grid Project of the Year”, which is reflective of the increased activity of both of these segments of the African solar industry. “Woman in Solar of the Year” has also been particularly popular among participants. This highlights the very positive trend of the growing involvement of women in the solar industry across the continent.WinnersCategoryWinnerAchievementUtility Scale Project of the yearSterling & Wilson Solarfor the multi-projects 322 MW contribution to Egypt’s 1.6 GW Benban Solar ComplexCommercial & Industrial Solar Project of the yearCrossBoundary Energyfor the Jabi Lake Mall project in Abuja, NigeriaMini Grid Project of the yearAfrica GreenTecfor their productive-use based Mini-Grid projects in Mali, Niger and Senegal which are often subject to high security risksSolar Home System Company of the yeard.lightfor achieving the target of reaching 100 million people with solar energyResidential Project of the yearMunyax Ecofor exceptional achievement in the field of Solar Water heaters having installed more than 1,000 units across Rwanda saving 8,000 tons of CO2 per yearAfrican Solar company of the yearANKA Madagascarfor securing 5 MW worth of mini-grids across Madagascar and for the company’s innovative AgriGrid modelAfrican Solar SME of the yearPawameAndSolar Box Gabonfor reaching 80,000 Kenyans with Solar Home System solutions while achieving cash-flow break-even and profitabilityfor developing the “Solar Cube” which doubles the production of traditional solar panelsFinancial Advisor of the yearSynergy Consulting Infrastructure and Financial Advisory Servicesfor their advisory services to cutting-edge large-scale projects across the continent such as the 2x50 MW tender in Botswana, the 32MW Djermaya project in Chad or the world’s first PV-CSP hybrid 200MW project in EgyptLegal Advisor of the yearEversheds Sutherlandfor their contribution to the Open Solar Contracts with IRENA, the International Renewable Energy Agency, and the Terrawatt Initiative, providing open source standardized contracts to governments across the globeTechnical Advisor of the yearSuntracefor technical advisory to the Fekola Gold mine hybrid project in Mali, a first of its kind off-grid hybrid project composed of 36 MW of solar, 15.4 MWh of storage, saving 13 million litres of heavy fuel oil annuallyDFI of the yearAfrican Development Bank (AfDB)for establishing SEFA, the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa which has contributed among others First of its kind inventory finance facility for solar irrigation products in East AfricaWoman in Solar of the yearOlaedo OsokaCEO of Daystar Power Ghana, for leading the expansion of the company from Nigeria to Ghana, Togo and Senegal and realizing C&I projects of 8MW in this 2-years period… only at the age of 27!Solar Innovation for the yearPhaesunfor their work on the RevivED Water Innovation project, a solar-powered desalination and purification systems for brackish water based on electrodialysis technology providing up to 2000l of clean drinking per daySolar Picture of the yearAlexandre Skander Allegue - Pawamefor a beautiful picture highlighting the impact of lighting in the most remote areasSolar video of the yearJoanna Gentili – African Minigridsfor a super inspiring and motivating video about electrifying a village in MalawiAn exceptional and global platformThe awards ceremony was organized in collaboration with aef and was conducted online.This year, aef joined forces with the African Utility Week & POWERGEN Africa plus Oil & Gas Council’s Africa Assembly this October to host a ‘Digital Africa Energy Festival’ - the largest ever energy event for the African continent.John van Zuylen, Founder of AFSIA, commented; “AFSIA Solar Awards is delighted to be hosted by this much respected programme and to unveil the winners during a digital ceremony on October 29th.The event was organized as a great show celebrating exceptional achievement in the solar industry and hosted several African personalities such as Ndumiso Lindi, the host of the awards, and the African band and dance troupe ‘Les Merveilles de Guinee’ who gave a thrilling performance. Several leaders of the global industry such as Huawei, Trina Solar and Jinko Solar also provided their support to make this a truly exceptional event.”