Safari suites, Vellies, Bafana tops and traditional African outfits filled the banquet hall for the 2013 SAEEC Annual Award held at Emperors Palace in Johannesburg.

A spaza shop, shebeen, and vibes from South African band ‘Masala’ brought the house down in a celebration of great South African culture and business in the energy industry.

At the annual celebration the SAEE Energy Awards were given in four categories:

In the Energy Newcomer of the Year where an individual or organization has demonstrated outstanding achievements and has entered the energy industry within the last 4 years, BBEnergy won ahead of the City of Polokwane and Hemera. BBEnergy was formed in 2011 operating in the mining sector, focusing on compressed air, refrigeration, pumping and ventilation energy efficiency projects and has completed projects with Eskom verified savings of 40MW.

Energy Project of the Year went to Magnet Electrical Supplies for their energy efficiency projects delivering outstanding energy saving results as well as innovation and effectiveness in reducing the energy resources over the last year. National Power Contractor and FNB were runners up. Magnet, suppliers of quality branded electrical equipment and industrial instrumentation, as well as abrasive materials, has become one of the country’s leading specialists in energy-saving project management. Energy Patron of the Year goes to an energy end-user organization that have made significant commitments and achieved outstanding results by reducing their use of energy resources. This year the award went to Wispeco Aluminium ahead of the City of Polokwane, Hotelstuff Greenstuff, and The Roots Lifestyle Centre.

Wispeco Aluminium is the leading aluminium extrusion company in South Africa and offers a one-stop-shop in the supply of mill finish; powder coated and anodized aluminium extrusions for various applications in a variety of industries. And the prestigious Energy Company of the Year went to a company that has demonstrated outstanding overall performance achievements in the energy industry by demonstrating the effective and continuous efficient use of any of the energy resources and implementations of energy efficiency management and awareness. This year’s award went to Toyota South Africa ahead of Ensight Energy Solutions and AngloGold Ashanti.

Toyota South Africa Motors is the largest vehicle manufacturer, exporter, employer and investor in South Africa. As a full affiliate of Toyota Motor Corporation – the world’s leading green vehicle manufacturer – it has set aggressive environmental targets for its manufacturing and retail divisions, including the reduction of energy usage, vehicle emissions and waste, the reuse of packaging and other materials and the recycling of waste and end-of-life vehicle components.

The SAEE Hall of Fame was established in August 2009 and on 12 November 2009, the late Dr. Ian Ernest Lane was presented the first SAEE Hall of Fame honour. The Board of the SAEE has confirmed that the Hall of Fame will be named after Dr. Lane. This prestigious award was bestowed on Mr Dieter Krueger whose has given service, dedication, commitment and selfless hours to the energy industry in South Africa. Annually the SAEE awards 2nd and 3rd year students in Engineering, Built Environment and Environmental Studies bursaries of R15 000, who have achieved an excellent academic record in previous years of study. This year there was no less than 50 successful applications from 12 Universities across Southern Africa. Bursaries were awarded to Gerrit Le Roux Nel, Muven Naidoo and Mildred Nakkungu.

The 2013 best single stand went to Voltex and the best double stand was awarded to ABB South Africa.

The evening concluded with thanks given to the outstanding sponsors who joined the 2013 SAEEC. Gold sponsors were South African National Accreditation System www.sanas.co.za Yingli Green Energy Africa www.yinglisolar.com  and the Industrial Development Corporation www.idc.co.za  Other sponsors included Complete Exhibitions www.compex.co.za and Easigas www.easigas.co