The award has over the years been a platform for showcasing the best of Ghana’s energy sector and  advancing its development and transformation.

It also serves as an opportunity to say thank you to all industry players who on a daily basis make a difference in the energy sector.

The ceremony also marked the opening of nominations for the recognition of excellence and innovation of individuals, institutions and organisations in the energy sector.

The nominations include awards category such as Energy Institution of the Year, CEO of the Year and Energy Personality of the Year and ends on September 30, 2023.

This year’s awards is on the theme; “Ghana’s energy transition framework - sector institutions as building blocks for the 2030-2040 targets.”

At the launch of the awards, a Deputy Minister of Energy, Andew Egyapa Mercer, stressed the readiness of the Ministry of Energy to partner agencies within the sector, as well as other relevant stakeholders to ensure that its goals were aligned as it pursued the conversation on the future of the energy sector and its industrialisation agenda.

He called on all players in the sector to work in sync as strategic partners in order to realise the objectives of government in that sector.

 National

Mr Mercer said the theme was indicative of the growing national and global conversation around energy transition and commended the organisers of the awards for highlighting it in a bid to contribute towards that critical conversation.

Energy Transition, Mr Mercer said, had come to stay and the country could not pretend to be unaffected by it.

He said Africa, and for that matter Ghana, was heavily impacted by the global climate crisis.

Mr Mercer said the vision of government for a just and equitable transition framework was a bold one that aspired to discharge the international obligations of the country in the matter of climate change and a move away from fossil fuel.

framework

Subsequently, he said it was also a framework that recognised the importance of the natural resources of the country and also the determination to ensure that these resources were not stranded and that the transition happened on the terms of the country and nothing else.

“In both the upstream and downstream sectors of the petroleum industry, in the generation, transmission and distribution sectors of the power value chain, and in the overarching regulatory framework, our agencies and institutions are critical of energy transition.

“This is because almost invariably, their activities and operations impact on climate change or is affected by it.

We simply cannot have a discussion on energy transition without institutions that are robust and focused with the right leadership to implement policy and give it real, practical, tangible meaning,” Mr Mercer stated.

Awards

The Event Director of the Awards, Henry Teinor, said much as the organisers were proud to recognise and reward efforts of players in the industry “we follow a rigorous and transparent process to ensure that the most deserving candidates are honoured.”

To that end, he said, “we do not compromise on our integrity or our standards.”

Mr Teinor, therefore, expressed appreciation to all of its partners for continuously believing and supporting the vision and urged all industry players to come on board with their support.

For his part, the Chairman of the Award Panel, Kwame Jantuah, said this year’s awards was focused on recognising various interventions and innovations being pioneered and introduced by players in the energy sector towards achieving the transitions targets.