The 10th edition of the Ghana Energy Awards has officially been launched in Accra, with nominations opening for individuals, companies and institutions that have made significant contributions to Ghana’s energy sector.

The 2026 edition marks a decade of the awards, which have since 2017 recognised excellence, innovation and leadership across the country’s energy value chain.

The anniversary edition is being held under the theme “A Decade of Redefining Excellence.”

The awards cover key areas of the energy sector, including power, petroleum, renewable energy, leadership and other areas of industry performance.

The 2026 edition will feature competitive awards, as well as non-competitive awards to recognise individuals and institutions for their contributions to the sector.

The main awards ceremony is scheduled for November at the Labadi Beach Hotel in Accra.

Nominations open on September 30 and close on October 30, with shortlisted nominees expected to be announced in November.

Speaking at the launch, the Event Director of the Ghana Energy Awards, Ing. Henry Teinor, said the organisers were committed to ensuring that deserving contributions were identified and recognised based on merit.

He said credibility and integrity remained central to the awards, adding that the organisers had strengthened the assessment process through collaboration with industry experts, technical professionals, independent validators and institutions.

He mentioned the World Energy Council, Ghana, and professional institutions including Forvis Mazars and the Casely Brooke Law Firm as some of the organisations involved in supporting the integrity of the process.

Ing. Teinor also announced the introduction of an integrated awards management system designed to support the application, validation, scoring and documentation processes.

According to him, the system is intended to make the awards process more transparent, open and efficient.

He said the secretariat and its technical team would also undertake both virtual and physical site visits after nominations close to verify information submitted by nominees.

“Integrity is not cheap,” he said, stressing that the organisers were prepared to go to the field to establish whether claims made by nominees reflected what was happening on the ground.

He said the verification exercise had become an important part of the awards process, adding that the organisers had conducted site inspections over the past eight years to verify submissions.

Ing. Teinor further highlighted the Energy Personality Outreach Programme, under which the Energy Personality of the preceding year engages young people and encourages them to pursue science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and careers.

He said the programme had reached more than 15,000 students through its various activities.

The 2026 awards will also mark the 10th anniversary of the scheme, a milestone Ing. Teinor said should be used to reflect on the progress made while preparing the energy sector for the next decade.

He called on individuals, institutions and organisations across the energy value chain to participate in the nomination process.

The Ambassador to Hungary, with concurrent accreditation to Slovakia, Dr Kwame Ampofo, who is also a member of the awarding panel, used the occasion to speak about Ghana’s energy challenges and the need for proper planning and diversification.

He cited the situation in Hungary, where drought had affected the availability of water used to cool nuclear power plants, as an example of how unexpected developments could affect energy systems even in countries with advanced technology and strong financial systems.

Dr Ampofo said Ghana should therefore strengthen its capacity and diversify its energy sources to improve reliability.

He advocated a balanced energy mix involving sources such as solar, nuclear and thermal power, explaining that having different sources could help support the system when one source experienced difficulties.

He argued that Ghana needed sufficient reserve capacity to ensure that power could still be supplied when part of the system went down.

On nuclear energy, Dr Ampofo said Ghana already had people with expertise in nuclear power generation, although some were currently working outside the country.

He recalled Ghana’s early efforts under the leadership of former President Kwame Nkrumah to develop expertise in nuclear energy and said those trained professionals could contribute when the country advances its nuclear programme.

Chairman of the Ghana Energy Awards awarding panel, Kwame Jantuah, said the energy sector needed recognition across its entire value chain, including electricity, petroleum and renewable energy.

He said he had no regrets about being part of the awards over the past decade and expressed hope that politicians and other stakeholders would understand the importance of recognising people and institutions contributing to Ghana’s energy sector.

Mr Jantuah welcomed the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation’s move into onshore exploration, describing it as an opportunity to create jobs and strengthen local participation in the petroleum industry.

He said Ghana needed to develop more local businesses and entrepreneurs in the oil industry so that a greater share of the economic benefits remained in the country.

Mr Jantuah commended the Ghana Energy Awards panel and successive Energy Ministries for supporting the scheme over the past 10 years.

Another member of the awarding panel, Rev. Lawrence Tetteh, said the 10th anniversary provided an opportunity to recognise people who had contributed to Ghana’s development through the energy sector.

He said the energy sector remained critical to the country and expressed confidence that the 2026 edition would provide another opportunity to honour people from different backgrounds who had contributed to its development.

The 10th Ghana Energy Awards will therefore combine the recognition of outstanding industry players with activities aimed at promoting excellence, innovation, professional standards and the development of future energy-sector leaders.

The anniversary edition is intended not only to celebrate the achievements of the past decade but also to encourage greater innovation and stronger performance in Ghana’s energy sector in the years ahead.

By: Jacob Aggrey