Celebrating 10 Years of EM-ONE
University of Abuja 3.3 MW PV + 2 MWh ESS Advanced Campus Microgrid (Nigeria)
A Decade of Accelerating Africa’s Sustainable Energy Transition
As 2025 comes to an end, EM-ONE marks ten years of designing, delivering, and operating energy systems for critical infrastructure across Africa. What began as a bold engineering vision has grown into a decade-long body of work that has helped reshape how reliable power is conceived, financed, and deployed in some of the continent’s most complex and demanding environments.
Ten years ago, decentralized solar, battery storage, and microgrids were not yet widely accepted as the future of electrification for the African continent. Today, they are increasingly taken for granted as the most reliable path forward. EM-ONE has been part of that shift from the very beginning, helping to move these technologies from early concepts and pilots into large-scale, bankable programs.
From the outset, EM-ONE has focused on projects where reliability is non-negotiable. Hospitals, industrial facilities, university campuses, and essential public services depend on uninterrupted power to function, and failure is not an option. Over the past decade, our teams have delivered solutions that keep emergency rooms operational, manufacturing lines moving, laboratories running, and campuses powered, often in environments where grid instability, fuel volatility, and limited infrastructure were the norm.
Transformative Projects, Not Incremental Change
Mabushi Solar Advanced Microgrid 1.52 MWp PV + 2.2 MWh ESS (Nigeria)
EM-ONE has always taken on projects that push beyond incremental improvements. Our work has focused on redefining what is possible in markets where legacy power systems fall short, by introducing solar, battery storage, and (modular or advanced) microgrids as reliable, scalable alternatives for mission-critical applications.
From early-stage concept development of donor-funded solar portfolios with partners such as UK Aid, the European Commission, through to the delivery of flagship national programs, EM-ONE has helped shape pathways that enabled the scale-up of multi-phase donor-funded initiatives across Nigeria and beyond. This included being among the first to pilot containerized microgrids for rapid deployment, an approach that became foundational to programs such as Solar Nigeria Phases 1–6.
Our work has also extended beyond project delivery into market-shaping technical assistance and consulting. EM-ONE supported grid transformation initiatives and advisory assignments that helped unlock the first World Bank–supported mini-grid funding facility in Nigeria, an inflection point that materially changed how decentralized energy projects were financed and developed across the country.
Connaught Government Hospital, Sierra Leone 760 kWp PV + 1.2 MWh ESS (Sierra Leone)
Over the past ten years, EM-ONE has:
Delivered 300+ sustainable energy projects across Africa
Powered critical healthcare, industrial, university, and public infrastructure
Deployed pioneering grid-connected battery energy storage systems
Piloted advanced microgrids for government buildings and universities in Nigeria
Implemented containerized and modular microgrids for rapid energy access
Delivered one of Africa’s largest portfolio of Tesla’s battery storage microgrid installations at the time under the Solar Nigeria program
Delivered one of the largest commercial, industrial, and healthcare microgrid portfolios in Sierra Leone
These projects have not only delivered power, but they have also helped redesign local energy landscapes by demonstrating that decentralized, intelligent systems can outperform traditional approaches in reliability, cost, and resilience.
Engineering and Technology at Our Core
At our core, EM-ONE is an engineering and technology company. Our teams bring together deep power systems expertise, advanced energy storage, digital control systems, and long-term operational know-how to solve complex energy challenges at scale.
Over the last decade, this has included pioneering grid-connected battery systems, advanced microgrid controllers, and hybrid architectures that integrate solar, storage, diesel, and utility grids seamlessly. We were among the first to pilot specialized microgrids for oxygen plants under UNICEF’s Oxygen Delivery Programme, ensuring uninterrupted power for life-saving medical infrastructure.
We bring together:
Rigorous value-engineering driven system design and execution
Advanced battery storage and microgrid control platforms
Digital monitoring, analytics, and long-term O&M optimization
This integrated approach allows EM-ONE to deliver systems that perform under real-world conditions, supporting both immediate reliability and long-term market development.
Containerized Modular Microgrid (95 kWp PV + 210 kWh ESS) Powering a Clinic in Kaduna State (Nigeria)
Leapfrogging the Energy Transition in Africa
Africa represents one of the most significant opportunities in the global energy transition. The future of power on the continent does not lie in replicating centralized, legacy grids, but in leapfrogging toward decentralized, digitalized, and intelligent energy systems.
EM-ONE’s work has consistently focused on enabling this leap, combining technology, engineering, and market-building efforts to make renewables not just viable, but bankable and scalable. Through early pilots, donor programs, technical assistance, and large-scale deployments, we have helped shift perceptions of what reliable power can look like across Africa.
Across the markets we serve (and new ones we are actively exploring) our work focuses on applying best-available technologies to build cleaner, smarter, and more resilient power solutions tailored to local needs. The goal is not simply to deploy assets, but to enable long-term, reliable energy systems that support economic growth and critical services.
“The past ten years at EM-ONE have been shaped by strong partnerships and a shared willingness to take on complex energy challenges. Together with our clients and partners, we’ve proven that decentralized, intelligent energy systems can reliably power critical infrastructure in real-world conditions. As we enter our second decade, we are building on that foundation—scaling integrated, engineering-led solutions into new markets to deliver lasting impact.”
— Mir Islam, CEO, EM-ONE Energy Solutions
What to Expect in 2026
As EM-ONE enters its second decade, our focus is shifting from individual projects to delivering integrated, long-term solutions at greater scale. Over the past year, we have been building the foundations for this next phase.
In 2026, you can expect:
Transformative, innovation-led projects that push the boundaries of solar, storage, and microgrid performance
Expansion into new markets, such as South Africa, Ethiopia and DRC
More integrated solutions that combine development, engineering, delivery, and operations to better serve our clients’ long-term energy needs
Deeper partnerships with clients, financiers, and technology providers to enable scalable and commercially sustainable energy systems
This evolution reflects both market maturity and EM-ONE’s growing role as a long-term partner in the energy transition.
A New Starting Point
This ten-year milestone is not a finish line. It is a transition point. The impact of the next decade will be defined not only by the number of projects delivered, but by how effectively EM-ONE helps clients and communities leapfrog to a more sustainable, intelligent, and resilient energy future.
Today, EM-ONE operates with three offices in Nigeria, Toronto, and Sierra Leone, supported by partner entities in Amsterdam and a global team working across Canada, Europe, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone. This distributed footprint reflects both our roots and our ambition.
To our partners, clients, engineers, field teams, and the communities who have trusted us along the way: thank you. Your collaboration has made the past decade possible.
The next chapter is already underway. In 2026 and beyond, EM-ONE will continue to take on the most critical energy challenges across the continent, bringing world-class engineering and advanced technology to transform Africa’s energy future.
Kano 1 MW Grid Interconnected Mini-Grid for an Industrial Cluster (Nigeria)
