Two Indian firms promoting the use of renewable solutions for rural electrification have won this year's Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy in London. Husk Power Systems (HPS), Bihar and Abellon CleanEnergy Ltd, Gujarat, received the awards on Thursday night.
The two companies competed with seven other finalists from Africa and South Asia for a prize money of over £120,000. The overall Gold Medal winner was from Ghana.
HPS generates electricity through the gasification of rice husk.
The company, in collaboration with Britain-based Shell Foundation, has about 60 gasification plants that provide affordable electricity to over 25,000 households in rural Bihar.
“Winning the Ashden Awards is a big achievement for Husk Power Systems. We've adopted a new business model to expand effectively and efficiently, and this international recognition will certainly be a source of inspiration for everyone involved,” Gyanesh Pandey, CEO of HPS, said in a statement.
Major achievement
Abellon CleanEnergy was chosen from fuelling Gujarat's industries with biomass pellets made from crop residues, avoiding around 110,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide.
Abellon aims to open two more pellet plants in Gujarat in the next five years.
The Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy, a charity founded in 2001, encourage greater use of local sustainable energy to address climate change, alleviate poverty and improve quality of life.