Power-Gen Africa colocated with African Utility Week

Following the acquisition of event organisers PennWell by event organisers Clarion Energy, this year, the Power-Gen Africa show will be co-located alongside African Utility Week (AUW), creating a truly scaled, end-to-end show encompassing the entire electricity and water value chain.

The events will occupy the entire Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) and moving into the bottom floor of CTICC 2 to accommodate Power- Gen Africa. The events will take place from May 14 to 16.

Event organiser Spintelligent – part of Clarion Energy – hopes to build on AUW’s position as the pre-eminent pan-African show of its type. This will provide a platform for industry stakeholders to connect, further the business of electricity infrastructure and increase the amount of connections on the continent, says Spintelligent event director Evan Schiff.

“We will be evolving our strategy to focus on content, networking, business and experience. To us, these four items encompass the essence of a conference and exhibition. The outcomes of focusing on these areas are deeper, more meaningful connections for our clients and attendees and therefore more opportunity for successful business relationships being formed at the events.”

Further, Clarion Energy has a global offering of shows in the US, Europe, South East Asia, China, Australia and Africa. There will be more than 100 000 people attending these events during this year, Schiff highlights.

Meanwhile, he points out that the most crucial aspect of economic growth and lifting people out of poverty in African countries is increasing access to electricity. “AUW and Power-Gen Africa provide platforms where the public, private and nongovernmental sectors can come together to find solutions, make connections and gain knowledge to address their specific challenges,” he advances.

Spintelligent expects about 10 000 visitors from more than 90 countries to attend the co-located events and about 350 exhibitors are expected.

AUW and Power-Gen Africa will have pavilions from China, the US, Denmark, the Nordic countries, Germany, India, France, Canada, Poland, the Czech Republic and more. The themes of the keynote sessions at AUW include climate change and extreme weather conditions and how these affect the energy and water sectors on the continent.

Spintelligent is looking forward to about 300 speakers, including Stellenbosch University initiative the Centre for Complex Systems in Transition codirector Professor Mark Swilling, energy distributor Umeme executive board member Riccardo Ridolfi, Ugandan Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development energy resources acting director James Baanabe, scientific research institute International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis research scholar Paul Yillia, technology and innovation consultancy Isle Utilities UK MD Dr Benjamin Tam, University of Pretoria associate professor Roula Inglesi-Lotz, Development Bank of Southern Africa syndication finance head Jonathan First and Global Energy Transfer Feed-in Tarriff (GET FiT) Programme secretariat Geoffrey Bakka. The GET FiT Programme aims to assist East African nations in pursuing a climate resilient low-carbon development path resulting in growth, poverty reduction and climate change mitigation.

Other events and platforms will run concurrently to the co-located events, including the Power and Water CEO Forum, Nordic Energy Day, African Power, Energy and Water Industry Awards, Knowledge Hubs, Initiate! – a student development initiative – and site visits.