Terje Osmundsen of Empower New Energy wins 2024 Business Worldwide Magazine CEO Award

A political scientist by education, Terje played an active role in shaping Norway's petroleum policy in the early 1980s as Chief Adviser to the Prime Minister. With a deep interest in the environment and development, he transitioned to solar energy, starting with Scatec Solar in 2009. After successfully developing large-scale solar projects in South Africa, Egypt, and other emerging markets, he co-founded Empower New Energy in 2017 with Alexander Pedersen and Susie Cook. Their mission: to bridge the finance gap hindering solar energy deployment for enterprises and communities across Africa.

Empower New Energy (Empower) operates as both an investor and a co-developer, working closely with project partners to prepare and de-risk projects before investing. This unique platform streamlines the due diligence process, accelerating solar energy deployment for companies and supporting decarbonized growth across Africa. Empower owns and operates solar plants in Morocco, Egypt, Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya, with ongoing projects in Tunisia, Cameroon, and Zambia.

Africa faces the highest electricity costs globally and a stagnant renewable energy share since the Paris Agreement. Currently, renewable sources account for less than 20% of Africa's electricity.

Large-scale renewable projects take years to develop, but decentralised solar can be built in less than a year, crucial for meeting Africa's development and decarbonization targets.

Despite Africa holding 60% of the world's solar energy potential, it accounts for less than 1% of global solar installations. Empower New Energy aims to harness this untapped potential to provide clean, sustainable electricity and reduce reliance on polluting and expensive fossil fuels.

The organisation has secured investment from prominent financiers like Climate Fund Managers and Norfund. Notable projects include a 700-kW solar installation for Miniplast in Ghana and a 1.2 MW rooftop solar plant for Nuts for Growth. In Morocco, Empower commissioned $2 million in rooftop solar installations, and in Nigeria, it deployed ten pioneering rooftop solar plants with battery storage for Justrite Superstores.

For more information on Empower New Energy's projects, investment news, case studies, and contact details, please visit our website: Empower New Energy.

Further information about the Business Worldwide CEO Awards can be found at https://www.bwmonline.com/2024-ceo-awards-winners/

About Business Worldwide Magazine

Business Worldwide Magazine is the leading source of business and dealmaker intelligence throughout the world. Our quarterly magazine and online news portal enable an established audience of corporate dealmakers to track the latest news, stories and developments affecting the international markets, corporate finance, business strategy and changes in legislation. This readership includes CEO/CFO - Banks, Corporate Lawyers and Venture Capital/Private Equity Companies to name a few.

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