Energy Minister Jeff Radebe will provide the opening ministerial address on May 14 at African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa at the CTICC in Cape Town
The South African Minister of Energy Jeff Radebe will form part of the stellar line up at the opening ministerial address on May 14 at African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa at the CTICC in Cape Town. The minister also opened this flagship industry gathering last year.
The addition of POWERGEN Africa to the 19th edition of African Utility Week from May 14-16 will add an expanded focus on generation, including renewables, off-grid, fossil fuels and nuclear, while still concentrating on transmission, distribution, metering and new technologies including storage, mini-grids, micro-grids, IOT and ICT systems, as well as water.
Along with multiple side events and numerous networking functions, the event boasts a five-track strategic conference with over 300 expert speakers. An extensive Knowledge Hub programme that is CPD (continuing professional development) accredited and free to attend, offers hands-on presentations taking place in defined spaces on the exhibition floor. These discuss practical, day-to-day technical topics, best practices and product solutions that businesses, large power users and utilities can implement in their daily operations.
Keynote speakers confirmed so far are:
– Dr Mark Swilling, programme co-ordinator of the Sustainable Development Programme in the School of Public Leadership; academic director of the Sustainability Institute; and the codirector of the Stellenbosch Centre for Complex Systems in Transition.
– Professor Anton Eberhard, who directs Managing Infrastructure Investment Reform Regulation In Africa at the Graduate School of Business at the University of Cape Town. He is also chair of a team appointed by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to advise on turning Eskom around and restructuring the power sector.
Following the keynote session, conference delegates will break into five programme tracks.
The programme for 2019 follows the industry trend of connecting the full value chain, so content is not siloed by industry and reflects the many disciplines required for a modern, smart power industry:
The Future Cities conference will examine Africa’s current urban living challenges and ask, what is needed for the cities of tomorrow, and who will be leading the way?
Learn about the finance and investment trends and forecasts for Africa’s power infrastructure in the Power Strategy Development conference, tailored to utilities and companies with an interest in finance and investment as well as generation options.
The Smart Energy conference will combine metering-based topics with the latest smart grid solutions to equip the sector’s leaders and innovators.
Energy Revolution Africa provides a dynamic meeting place for solution providers, consultants, renewable energy producers and African and global energy minds to develop alternative solutions towards the acceleration of Africa’s sustainable electrification.
The Water conference will bring together experts from public and private sectors to support municipalities as they become more responsive and efficient in their practices.
Site visits
In addition to the conference and exhibition, technical site visits, taking place on 17 May, add a third dimension to the knowledge sharing of the delegates and allows them to experience pioneering projects in Cape Town in the energy and water sectors.
One example is The Beverage Company, which, when faced with the recent water scarcity in Cape Town, managed to reduce its waste water by over 60%, saving more than 90-million litres of municipal water since January 2017. The Epping-based bottling plant produces over 1.5-million bottles of carbonated soft drinks per week and uses on average 30 000 litres of water per hour. African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa site visit delegates will be able to view the plant and see the alternative water supply project that the company initiated to reduce their dependence on the municipal water supply by installing their own boreholes and reverse osmosis plant.
International pavilions
In addition to the official US country pavilion at African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa, showcasing specialised technology and services for the utility, metering, renewable and water industries, country pavilions from Brazil, Canada, China,Denmark, France, Germany, India and Poland have also already confirmed their presence at the three-day event in May.
Industry support
A multi-award-winning conference and exhibition, African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa has already secured early support from industry stalwarts including Conlog, Dromex, Landis+Gyr, Sumitomo and Utility Systems as platinum sponsors and Aberdare, ADC Energy, Sulzer and Toshiba as gold sponsors.
The sixth edition of the annual African Power, Energy & Water Industry Awards also returns to celebrate pioneering utilities, projects and people in the energy and water industry on the continent during 2018/2019.
CEO Forum
The Utility CEO Forum is an exclusive gathering of regional utility chief executives within the power and energy sector, providing a unique, safe space for discussion and debate of the modern-day challenges of running African utilities in a fast-developing market with high political expectations and low returns, within aging or no infrastructure. Confirmed industry expert and technology partners for this strategic gathering are Conlog, Eaton, Nyamezela, Ontec, Oracle and Steinmüller.
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