POWER-GEN Africa's big plans for 2014 conferences
27 November 2013
African Business Review
With more than 2,100 attending last year's inaugural POWER-GEN Africa 2012, organisers expect 2014 to be a big one for energy conferencing in Africa.
POWER-GEN Africa and the inaugural DistribuTECH Africa have announced a formidable line-up of top international and local speakers for their 2014 conferences, which are now officially sanctioned as Continual Professional Development (CPD) events by the South African Institute of Electrical Engineers (SAIEE).
The 2014 conferences will run concurrently, alongside the power sector's premier expo, from March 17-19 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. They will attract African dignitaries and international energy experts from sub-Saharan Africa, the US, UK, Germany, Italy, Russia and further afield, who will deliver their insights in a programme designed by an Advisory Board of African and international power industry experts.
Global event organisers PennWell report that more than 2,100 attendees from 63 countries and six continents attended the inaugural POWER-GEN Africa 2012, and they expect the 2014 event to attract even larger numbers of high-level decision-makers and address key technology and development issues for the sub-Saharan Africa energy marketplace through a comprehensive educational programme and three-day exhibition.
Nigel Blackaby, Event Director and Director of Conferences at the PennWell International Power Group, UK, said: "PennWell, as the biggest global event organiser in the power sector, is proud to be part of any new frontier or development, promising both business opportunity and the potential to transform lives.
The current huge demand for the delivery of vital, secure energy services to the rapidly-expanding economies across the African continent offers one such opportunity."
In a comprehensive programme spanning five tracks across the co-located events, speakers will include South African Energy Minister Ben Martins, Eskom Group Executive Dr Steve Lennon, and Nampower Namibia Managing Director Paulinus Shilamba.
Senior executives from key local players such as SASOL, Shell and Alstom will deliver talks or participate in in-depth panel discussions alongside high-ranking executives from top energy organisations from across the continent and the globe, including the Nigerian Presidential Task Force on Power, EDM Mozambique, the Ethiopian Power Corporation, Electricite de France, the Lesotho Highlands Water Commission and the African Development Bank, as well as respected academics and industry leaders.
The events will include two technical tours - to Eskom's new Centre for Substation Automation and Energy Management Systems (CSAEMS), Cape Town Peninsula University of Technology; and to Eskom's Ankerlig Power Station (previously known as the Atlantis OCGT power station), one of five gas turbine power plants in South Africa.
A series of Technical Training Workshops will also give delegates the unique opportunity to receive training in various categories of the generation, transmission and distribution fields. Blackaby added: "POWER-GEN Africa and DistribuTECH Africa bring together power engineering planning and technology expertise from fuel supply, through power generation, right across the grid and down to the level of the customer's meter.
All the elements that African utility companies are responsible for will be on show here, with the event being designed to be a meeting place to exchange views, discuss experiences and learn new ways to expand and strengthen the power industry across the many countries of Africa."
In addition to the conference programme, POWER-GEN Africa and DistribuTECH Africa offer a substantial and world-class exhibition floor, playing host to a number of world-class suppliers and service providers, from home and abroad.
Those attending POWER-GEN Africa and DistribuTECH Africa will also be able to take part in free training workshops provided by leading suppliers and thereby enhance skill levels, plus the new addition of a WADE Africa Decentralized Energy Workshop. There are also two fascinating technical tours available to those who book in advance.
Original article by Joseph Wilkes
Category: Energy