Repowering London was honoured to accept a 2025 Ashden Award for Outstanding Achievement (UK) on June 11. Every year, the Ashden Awards showcase inclusive climate solutions – work that creates a fairer and more prosperous world, as well as lowering emissions and preparing communities for climate threats. Repowering London was one of six winners at a special 25th Anniversary Ashden Awards ceremony. The winners, says Ashden: “were chosen for their exemplary work on clean energy in either the UK or the Global South”.
Second-time winner
Repowering London last won an Ashden Award in 2016, and since that time we have grown substantially. We have supported the establishment of 11 community energy co-ops, funded mostly by small investors, and now work across nine London boroughs and the City of London.
The co-ops we suppport now have a combined solar generation capacity of 1.2MW and are expected to avoid over 1,000 tonnes of carbon emissions. Importantly, profits generated by the sale of solar energy — expected to amount to more than £200,000 based on our current footprint — will be ringfenced for community funds that will flow back into local projects, with co-op members making the decisions.
Reflecting on our journey
Accepting the award, CEO and Co-Founder Afsheen Kabir Rashid MBE reflected on the road the organisation has taken to reach this point:
“The Repowering London journey began in Brixton, south London, when it was an organisation working out of a donated storage cupboard to create the UK’s first inner-city, community-owned solar power station. Today, we have grown to a team of more than 30 people, working all across London. This growth is a result of the support we’ve had from our funders, partners, our committed volunteers, and the sheer dedication of the Repowering London team past and present.
“We are creating a fairer way of doing energy: providing energy services delivered for, with and by local people – reducing bills, creating jobs, and keeping any profits in the local community.”
Featured film
Ashden comment
Speaking about the award winners as a group, Ashden CEO Dr Ashok Sinha said:
“The 2025 Ashden Award winners are setting us on course for a fairer, greener, better future. These are proven solutions with enormous impact, led by true climate pioneers. In Ashden’s 25th year, we are delighted to celebrate these inclusive and inspiring champions.
“In today’s turbulent world, our winners are illuminating the way forward – improving lives as well as slashing carbon emissions by creating new jobs, cutting energy bills, improving health and building stronger communities. Congratulations to every one of them.”
Learn more about the awards
For full details of the awards and all of the winners, just click here.
