A time for celebrating: Jiska reflects on TEA-LP’s successes of 2024
As we draw 20204 to a close, it is inspiring to look back on how the Transforming Energy Access – Learning Partnership (TEA-LP) has truly come to life this year, driven by the many people who have joined our journey. From workshops to conferences, we have had multiple opportunities for gathering our network of university partners, students and professionals. I am continually amazed by the commitment of all to deliver universal energy access.

Collage of TEA-LP events: TEA Forum (top left), International Conference on Sustainable Energy Education (top right), Energy Access Investment Forum (bottom left), Mini-Grid Training Workshop (bottom right). Source: TEA-LP
This year, we hosted several events that brought together many of our partners to learn, share knowledge, innovate and collaborate. The highlights this year have been numerous: the excellent progress made by our partners to roll-out their new Master’s courses, the huge success of the Future Female Leaders programme, our side event at the International Conference on Sustainable Energy Education (SEED) in Valencia, the Mini-grids Training Workshop in Kigali, the AICCEES Conference in Nigeria and the ARE Investment Forum in Nigeria. For each of these events, there has been fantastic representation from across Africa, South Asia, and the Indo-Pacific.
A key highlight has been the delivery of our training programmes for professionals already working in the sector. This year we received an overwhelmingly positive response to the Future Female Leaders programme in collaboration with African Management Institute (AMI), which completed 13 cohorts, three more than planned. This means that we reached over 400 women in the energy sector in just one year! Through this we not only have contributed to the increase of skilled experts in the energy sector, but we also help to make the energy sector a more equitable space. In addition, we secured 29 registrations for the inaugural Integrated Data Energy Analytics (IDEA), a CPD course hosted at the University of Cape town. This course will help professionals in the sector to effectively integrate data analytics practices with technical information gathered in energy systems.
Workshops were a pivotal component of our programming this year, each one uniquely designed to address specific gaps in knowledge or skills within the energy access field. The Mini-Grids Training Workshop, hosted in partnership with CORE (managed by ARE) and ACE FUELS at FUTO, focused on enhancing technical knowledge and skills required to deliver the TEA-LP mini-grids course. The workshop, facilitated by INENSUS, focused on enhancing knowledge among our partners of the technical tools and software applications for mini-grid design, and brought together 42 lecturers from 22 of our partner institutions across 16 countries. This diverse representation showcased the extensive network that TEA-LP has built in the Global South over the past few years.
Similarly, our side event at the SEED conference in Valencia earlier this year allowed our partners to delve into the challenges that their regions face in delivering energy education, sharing their visions and strategies for a future educational system that delivers the type of graduates that are so needed by the sector. The discussions were marked by lively debate, encouraging everyone in the room to consider how local and global perspectives might be woven together to create more inclusive solutions.
What the events above have in common is the TEA-LP’s commitment to bringing people together. For me, there is something truly special about the TEA-LP network— wherever our members meet, we see that our network of partners is much more than the sum of its parts; we are becoming a community where we support each other in enhancing the skills needed to drive energy transitions, and in which every individual in the partnership contributes their unique knowledge and lived experiences, fostering a culture respect and support.
I, therefore, want to personally thank every person that has contributed to making the TEA-LP a success this year, including the many individuals and organisations that are directly and indirectly involved.
Looking ahead, I am filled with a sense of hope and anticipation for what we can achieve together. Next year will bring new opportunities, as we aim to expand our network with new members, collaborate on new projects, and actively explore new ways in which to support our members.
Wishing you all a wonderful festive season,
Jiska