Giving power to the people

THE Utility Show Africa 2012 will have all things energy under one roof, including the Power & Electricity World Africa trade show and Africa Energy Awards.
AFRICA’S leading municipalities, utilities, regulators and investors will examine the latest innovations in the energy industry at The Utility Show Africa 2012, taking place at the Sandton Convention Centre on 27 and 28 March.

ElectricityLatest technologies in electricity generation will be discussed“Offering uninterrupted and secure energy supply to all citizens is one of the main roles that municipalit[ies] and utilit[ies] play in ensuring the provision of services to communities in a sustainable manner,” says the conference manager, Hmrithi Jairam, from Terrapinn Limited.

“However, finding the right expertise and support to ensure your challenges are adequately dealt with is both a major undertaking and absolutely imperative.”

This is where The Utility Show Africa comes in, as it connects the role players and examines issues ranging from revenue management, credit control and customer engagement strategies to opportunities for utilities, distributors and municipalities.

Lectures and panel discussions will look at a variety of themes, giving ideas on how to collect revenue more effectively; engage with customers; integrate new customer engagement technologies with existing ones; implement consistent pricing regulation; and develop viable project relationships with municipalities and utilities.

Power generation
One of the keynote addresses of the two-day conference will be on the role that power generation plays in driving economic growth. It will be presented by the City of Johannesburg’s director of energy, Thabo Mahlatsi. He will examine the responsibilities that accompany being an African distributor of power, the effective management of consumers’ expectations while delivering services, and the integration of systems to ensure that payments are received.

There will also be a municipal forum in which Mahlatsi and experts in the energy sector will discuss the best ways to establish consistent levels of service delivery.

Other discussions and lectures to look forward to during the conference include an address on how to establish partnerships between municipalities and utilities, by the chief executive officer of Erongo RED in Namibia, Gerhard Coeln, and a panel discussion on using technology to educate consumers about managing their energy use and costs.

Also featuring at The Utility Show Africa will be the Power & Electricity World Africa trade show and Africa Energy Awards.

Electricity
Power & Electricity World Africa is the continent’s largest power and energy exhibition, with over 4 000 participants. It aims to connect buyers and products, with emphasis on billing, data management, revenue management systems, business operating systems and metering, among others.

Landfill to gas projectTurning waste into energy: The City's landfill gas to energy projectA particular focus for Johannesburg will be their implementation of landfill gas to energy Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project. It forms part of South Africa’s commitments to the 2002 Kyoto Protocol on World Climate Change.

Robinson Deep, Marie Louise, Linbro Park, Goudkoppies and Ennerdale landfills were identified as potential sites for this project in 2005, and it was initiated by the City’s infrastructure and services department in 2007.

Mitigating harmful greenhouse gases emitted in these landfills is the main aim of the CDM project, and it is anticipated that the renewable energy generated will be fed into the municipal grid, off-setting the effects of using mainly coal-derived electricity.

Technical seminars will also be hosted, to showcase the latest technologies and solutions in power generation, smart electricity, energy efficiency and green buildings. It will run for the duration of The Utility Show Africa conference.

The Africa Energy Awards will take place on the final evening of The Utility Show Africa, on 28 March. These awards acknowledge excellence in Africa’s power and electricity sector.

The Utility Show Africa 2012 follows on from the success of last year’s conference, which recorded a total of 3 859 participants.