More than a century after the light bulb was invented, most of the African continent is still in the dark after nightfall. School children often cannot read after dusk, businesses cannot grow, clinics cannot refrigerate medicine or vaccines and industries are idled hampering economic growth, jobs, and livelihoods. Even where electricity is being delivered, most countries in sub-Saharan Africa are facing a crisis evidenced by load shedding.
Africa's economy is growing at an unprecedented speed. One of the core challenges, as African countries continue to grow and develop, is energy; meeting rising demand for power, transport and other uses in a way that is economically sustainable and safeguards livelihoods. Economic growth, changing lifestyles and the need for reliable modern energy access, is expected to require energy supply to be at least doubled by 2030. For electricity, it may even have to triple. Africa is richly endowed with renewable energy sources, and the time is right for sound planning to ensure the correct energy mix decisions made today, will shape the continent&#s energy use for decades to come.
Initiatives like Power Africa, increased use of PPP’s and other financing structures, as well as improved political stability across the continent, have encouraged significant increases in investment levels, driving a boom in this sector. This is evidenced by projects like the Grand Renaissance Dam, Inga Dam & Lake Turkana Wind Power, and these are just the start of a long list of investment-ready and fully funded projects that the continent has in the pipeline. Thermal power projects, while less environmentally friendly, give access to power. These in themselves better diesel generation solutions or worse, wood burning, and therefore are an important area of investment. Many of the projects, like hydropower and wind, are in distant regions where investment into T&D lines will also be needed. Off-grid hydro, solar & wind projects are also being extensively invested in across the continent.
Powering Resilience With Renewables will take place on the 1st and 2nd September 2016 at the Intercontinental hotel, Addis Ababa Ethiopia, involving the very Ministers, Senior Government Officials, Utilities, NGOs, agencies and donors leading the nascent projects across the Energy Sector. These leaders will be highlighting and announcing fully-funded and ready-for-funding projects, in their respective countries, and making themselves available for high-level one-on-one matchmaking discussions with global operators, with the express aim of transforming Africa's Power Resilience.
Thus,
Powering Resilience With Renewables, provides a rare and valuable opportunity, led by invitations from the Government of Ethiopia, for international companies to meet with dozens of Ministry Officials and Utility Senior Management from across the continent in a safe, stimulating environment within just a few short days.
These meetings will include the African Union Commission, NEPAD, USAID, Sustainable Energy for All Initative (SEE4ALL), Association of Power Utilities of Africa (APUA), ECOWAS, COMESA, OPIC, UNFCCC, UNFAO, IFAD, UNDP, UNEP, SADC, UNECA, Ethiopian Electric Utility, Ethiopian Electric Power, ESCOM, Lake Turkana Wind Power, TANESCO, UEGCL - Uganda Electricity Generation Co, UETCL - Uganda Electricity Transmission Co, Kenya Power, UPDEA Africa, Malawi Electricity, Egyptian Natural Gas Company, Volta River Authority, Niger Basin Authority, Ghana Water, Ivory Coast Energy, Mozambique Electricity, Swaziland Electricity Company, KEREA, Rwanda Energy, Central African Power Pool (CAPP), Eastern Nile Technical Regional Office (ENTRO), Southern African Power Pool, Orange Senqu River Commission, Nile Basin Initiative and much, much more...
Please direct all enquiries to +44 (0)20 3817 5346 or
info@grvglobal.com.
We very much look forward to welcoming you in Ethiopia this September...