The Ghana Energy Awards (GEA) has opened nominations for the 4th Edition of the Awards, under the theme: “Excelling in Crisis: the Energy Sector in a COVID-19 Era".

With the official launch yesterday July 28, the nominations remain open until September 30, 2020. In all, there are 18 categories both competitive and non-competitive, including the topmost Energy Personality of the Year awards, Institution of the Year, Energy Company of the Year, Brand of the Year, Reporter of the Year, and a host of other carefully selected categories.

At a media launch organized in Accra, Dr Kwame Ampofo, Chairman of the Awarding Panel, noted that the Coronavirus pandemic has occasioned an unusual environment with its related effects on the economic and social health of the country.

In terms of company shutdowns and job losses as well as suspensions of critical upstream projects valued at over US$300 million, the energy sector has been the least spared from the Covid impacts.

However, the Ghana Energy Awards has considered the opportunity to “hold a very special Energy Awards event, while observing all the COVID-19 protocols, to highlight the resilience and ingenuity of Ghana's corporate world, especially in the energy sector".

According to the organizers, there are stricter measures put in place for the 2020 Ghana Energy Awards to ensure adherence to all the prescribed protocols in order to guarantee the safety and well-being of industry players.

Ing. Henry Teinor, Director of the Awards stressed that a key feature of the 2020 event is the nature of organizational responses to the pandemic.

“For the current crisis in which we find ourselves, this year’s event is paying particular attention to the critical interventions being undertaken by various organizations in the sector to support the ongoing fight against COVID-19, in terms of safety, security and relief for company staff and more essentially for the communities in which they operate," he said.

The Awards Director further added that before the end of the nomination period, the organizing team and the Awarding panel will pay inspection visits to nominees' project sites to acquaint themselves with innovative solutions cited by the nominees at their project sites. This activity is to inform the panel of the nature of these projects and the magnitude of their impacts.

Ghana Energy Awards is an industry-led initiative with endorsement from the Ministry of Energy and the World Energy Council Ghana that recognizes the efforts, innovation and excellence of individuals and organizations within the energy sector.

To nominate, applicants should visit the awards website for information on categories and the nomination process at www.ghanaenergyawards.com.