The Africa Solar Industry Association (AFSIA) has announced the nominees for the 3rd edition of the “Solar Awards” with 13 different categories. According to AFSIA, it received a significant number of high level applications. AFSIA says this demonstrates the vitality of the African solar energy sector which now attracts the biggest international players.
“The evaluation process has been very enlightening and fulfilling, learning about the achievements and outcomes of innovative and life impacting projects in low and middle-income countries, for the purposes of sustainable, socio-economic development and growth,” said Anita Otubu, Head of the Project Management Unit of the NEP, REA Nigeria and a member of the Awards jury.
“The AFSIA Solar Awards provides the perfect platform to recognize, confirm and show gratitude for great work being undertaken and accomplished in the renewable energy space,” Otubu added.
Discover the nominees:
Here are the nominees for each category. They were selected by a jury of professionals from across the solar energy sector in Africa. Rewarded for their professionalism, their innovation, their selflessness, their entrepreneurial spirit and simply their excellence in the sector, AFSIA honours those who make the continent shine.
The winners will be announced during an exceptional event on June 23, 2022 at the Africa Energy Forum in Brussels.
1. Utility Scale Solar Project of the Year:
- The 100MW Redstone CSP Project by ACWA Power (South Africa)
- The Golomoti 20MWac PV project by InfraCo Africa & JCM Power (Malawi)
- The Malindi Solar 52MWp plant by Globeleq Africa Limited (Kenya)
2. C&I Solar Project of the Year:
- The 1.7 MWp Solar Grid Tie system solution for the Tea and Flower Industry by W. Giertsen Energy Solutions (Kenya)
- The 1.3MWp solar power plant by Solarise Africa
- The 13.5MW solar carport Ford Silverton Assembly Plant by SolarAfrica (South Africa)
- The 1.8MWp rooftop solar plant by Solarise Africa
3. Mini-grid Solar Project of the Year:
- The 2 solar-hybrid mini-grids of 338 kWp in Tadu and Faradje by Nuru (RDC)
- The Gbangba minigrid of 90kWp by ENGIE Energy Access (Nigeria)
- The 50kWac with 150kWh battery storage MG by OnePower Lesotho
4. SHS company of the Year:
- ENGIE Energy Access for its SHS business integration and MySol rebranding of 9 markets in Sub-Saharan Africa impacting more than 7M people in less than 2 years
- Solar Panda growing its operations to 37 shops across Kenya, providing employment to nearly 1,000 Kenyans and bringing light to 1M Kenyans
- Ignite Power adding 200,000 more connections since last year and collaborating with We Care Solar to electrify 60 clinics
5. Productive use application of the Year:
- The SunMoksha’s IoT and cloud based Smart AQUAnet’s system designed to help small and marginal farmers operate a shared irrigation system/resource by Solektra Rwanda
- The Ignite Spring project, a YAHOPROC Cooperative that deployed 3 solar irrigation pumps to a farm by Ignite Power
- The Wote Solar Water Farm in Wote, Kenya that has sold about 60,000 litres of water by GivePower
6. African Solar Company of the Year:
- CrossBoundary Energy currently operates the largest portfolio of RE PPAs in Africa at ~120 MWp of solar generation capacity, ~ 40 MWh of storage capacity.
- Solar Sister investing in women’s clean energy businesses in off-grid communities in Africa with 6,800 Solar Sister Entrepreneurs to date
- Solarise Africa currently having a total of 7.1 MW installed, of which 4.6 MW were commissioned since June 2021
7. African solar entrepreneur/SME of the year:
- USAFI GREEN ENERGY for its partnership with Allsolla to provide solar powered computers that comes with 4 extra bulb and free network for the kakuma refugees camp
- Solakilimo Solutions providing temperature-controlled supply chain and logistics solutions for cold units for farmers
- SOS Energie Burkina for several achievements of which the sale of 2,500 solar smart kits
8. Advisor / Consultant of the year (Financial/Legal/Technical):
- Harmattan Renewables for the Oya project, the biggest hybrid project (Solar and wind with battery) in Africa.
- Synergy Consulting Infrastructure and Financial Advisory Services Inc. for several projects including TotalEnergies for first-ever solar PV tender in Mozambique
- ED Platform for providing advisory to all bidding rounds from BW1 through to BW5 with a total of 124 ED compliant bids submitted in the REIPPP in South Africa.
9. Deal/Financing program of the year:
- The new $500M Gigaton Empowerment Fund by SunFunder
- The £10M “Charm Impact Bond” by Charm Impact which already invested in 5 projects in Nigeria, Kenya and Tanzania
- The EDFI ElectriFI’ facility with EUR 79M being invested mainly in solar in Africa by EDFI
10. Solar innovation of the year:
- The 100% solar-powered walk-in cold rooms reducing food waste by 80% by GreenBox
- The ImpactSite modular system for sustainable power generation, intelligent distribution and efficient use of electricity in rural areas by Africa GreenTec AG
- The verification app currently being used by 3,500 people working across 4 countries of operations and company HQ to verify SHS deployments in real-time by Ignite Power
11. Solar picture of the Year:
- Distributed Power Africa
- Globeleq Africa Limited
- Sosimple Energy
12. Solar video of the Year:
- CrossBoundary Energy
- Husk Power
- 3MSG SOLAR SOCIEDADE UNIPESSOAL- LDA
13. Life-time achievement award:
- Aida and Torsten Schreiber founders of Africa GreenTec AG
- Manoj Sinha, CEO of Husk Power
- Dr Segun Adaju CEO of Consistent Energy Limited
Winners will be revealed during a live event on June 23, 2022, at Tours & Taxis in Brussels, organized in partnership with the Africa Energy Forum.
For more information: Ines.dushime@afsiasolar.com micheline.thienpont@afsiasolar.com
