Malawi's Energy Minister Ibrahim Matola Leads Malawi Delegation for BESS Knowledge Exchange in India, Supported by GEAPP

Business Standard

18-07-2025

NewsVoir
New Delhi [India], July 18: Ibrahim Imed Matola, Minister of Energy, Government of Malawi, is on an official visit to India to strengthen collaboration between the two countries in the field of energy transition and sustainable development. The key highlight of the visit was Minister Matola's meeting with Pralhad Joshi, Cabinet Minister for New and Renewable Energy, Government of India, on July 17. The discussions centred around clean energy partnerships, grid modernisation, and regional challenges for energy access and transition to low-carbon technologies.
Minister Matola visited the recently commissioned Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) at BSES Rajdhani Power Limited (BRPL)'s Kilokari sub-station in Delhi on July 15, which is South Asia's largest and India's first standalone utility-scale BESS, supported by the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP) and its partners IndiGrid and AmpereHour Energy. The project has completed over 100 charge-discharge cycles in just three months, delivering measurable financial savings of over Rs. 25 million (USD 290,000) in power procurement costs and offering a scalable model for urban energy resilience.
The visit is part of a larger initiative to enable cross-border learning and deepen global South-South cooperation in the clean energy sector. With Malawi targeting a just and inclusive energy transition - over 70% of its current installed capacity already comes from renewable sources - the Malawi government is seeking to adopt India's experience with battery storage deployment, digital grid solutions, and policy design for its urban energy reforms and successful completion of its 20 MW BESS under construction at Kenengo Substation in Lilongwe with funding from GEAPP.
Applauding India's leadership in energy transition, Honourable Ibrahim Matola, Energy Minister, Government of Malawi said, "India's journey toward decarbonisation and innovation in clean energy systems provides a useful case study for our country's vision 2063, with increased integration of renewable energy being a key component of the vision to drive sustainable development and economic growth. We hope to learn from and adopt these innovations to Malawi's energy landscape, as we deliver on our National Compact to provide access to an additional 2.7 million households in line with Mission 300, which aims to electrify 300 million people in Africa by 2030. Collaboration with like-minded nations and partners such as GEAPP at both national and international levels is not just desirable, it is essential as we collectively respond to the global climate crisis."
In addition to the BESS site visit, the Minister and delegation also engaged with GEAPP officials and its partners, the ABB Group & RIC Energy, to understand solutions for digitalizing grid assets and adopting AI-driven tools for network planning. The Digitalization of Utilities for Energy Transition (DUET) program by GEAPP in India aims to co-create, co-design, and deploy tailored systems to support Indian distribution companies (DISCOMs). The initiative aims to integrate AI and IoT-based solutions, enabling predictive load management, reducing AT & C losses, accelerating renewable energy integration, and enhancing grid stability to reduce the carbon footprint of power operations.
Commenting on the visit, Saurabh Kumar, Vice President - India, GEAPP, stated, "Achieving 50% clean power installed capacity five years ahead of schedule is a milestone that underscores India's bold climate leadership, policy foresight, and the power of partnerships. In the spirit of global South-South collaboration, GEAPP is proud to support the ongoing visit of the Hon. Energy Minister of Malawi to India - an engagement that reflects how India's leadership can translate into scalable, digitally-enabled solutions for other emerging economies. It is a step forward in our shared pursuit of inclusive, resilient, and equitable energy transition."
To further global collaboration, Malawi is also one of the signatories of the BESS Consortium led by the GEAPP Leadership Council (GLC), which seeks to deploy and scale BESS in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). GEAPP is supporting Malawi's 20 MW BESS project in collaboration with the Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM).
The Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP) is an alliance of philanthropy, governments in emerging and developed economies, and technology, policy, and financing partners. Our common mission is to enable LMIC's shift to a clean energy, pro-growth model that accelerates universal energy access and inclusive economic growth, while supporting the global community to meet critical climate goals during the next decade. As an alliance, we aim to reduce four gigatons of future carbon emissions, expand clean energy access to one billion people, and enable 150 million new jobs. With philanthropic partners, IKEA Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, and Bezos Earth Fund, GEAPP works to build the enabling environment, capacity, and market conditions for private sector solutions, catalyze new business models through innovation and entrepreneurship, and deploy high-risk capital to encourage private sector solutions and assist just transition solutions.