Building foundations for energy storage excellence in Southern Africa
On the 13th of May 2026, in the afternoon, the Southern Africa Battery Energy Systems (SABESS CoE) team Dr Chrispin Gogoda (Director) and Tamandani Jonamu (Research Assistant) met with Global Energy alliance for People and Planet (Global Energy Alliance) CEO, Woochong Um, alongside Global Energy Alliance’s Africa Grids of the Future team and Malawi country leadership, including Dr. Collen Zalengera (Country Delivery Lead, Malawi) and Felix Khembo (Utility Manager Africa).The meeting was followed by a visit to the Kanengo grid scale Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) site. During the meeting, the Global Energy Alliance CEO shared insights with what the center is all about and what we are trying to achieve.
Discussions focused on the role of SABESS CoE in advancing regional knowledge-sharing, research, and technical excellence around battery energy storage systems across Southern Africa. Woochong Um emphasized the importance of documenting and publishing lessons and operational data from the Malawi BESS project so that practitioners can draw on African-led experience to inform future projects across the continent.
With the Kanengo 20MW/40MWh BESS about to come online, it was observed to be a perfect time to get insights and knowledge from those closest to the work which will help the SABESS CoE with knowledge dissemination across the region.
Great partnerships drive great knowledge and that is exactly what we are here to build.
#SABESS CoE #The Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet #KanengoBESS #ESCOM #MalawiEnergyAlliance #SouthernAfrica #CentreOfExcellence #Mission300 #ChangeEnergyChangeLives