It is exciting to write to you about the culmination of the third Empower a Billion Lives (EBL) competition! After a year and a half of planning, promotion, and execution by the EBL Steering Committee, and an incredible amount of work to organize every detail and herding all the cats by Jane Celusak, PELS Program Manager Extraordinaire, we completed the EBL 2025 round with a dedicated and inspiring group of 25 finalists selected from 140 submissions. The finalists were from over 20 countries, with one team spanning multiple continents in its members. A large proportion were working in sub-Saharan Africa, which has the highest number of people living in energy poverty.
The EBL Global Final was held in conjunction with the Southern Power Electronics Conference (SPEC) in Johannesburg, South Africa, at Witwatersrand University from 2–5 December. It was a week where we shared challenges, had deep discussions, and made new connections.
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