The sixteenth African Utility Week and Clean Power Africa conference and trade exhibition, which will be held in Cape Town from May 17 to 19, is expected to host 6 000 engineers, stakeholders and solutions providers from around the world, who will be exposed to 250 exhibitions, 250 speakers, a six-stream strategic conference, a free-to-attend technical conference on the expo floor, three high-profile keynote sessions, technical site visits and the industry awards gala dinner.

Event director Evan Schiff highlights that the African Utility Week advisory board takes an active role in making sure the programme addresses the latest challenges, developments and opportunities in the power and water sectors, including generation, transmission and distribution, metering, clean energy, finance, reliability, water supply and energy efficiency.

“We will once again showcase many success stories in clean energy; bankable power projects and energy storage will [also] be discussed as a possible game changer for energy independence,” he says, adding that water will be another focal point, particularly the topics of the water-energy nexus, water efficiency and wastewater management.

“There is no doubt that renewable energy as well as smart technology are changing the way power and water utilities operate and deal with their customers. The industry is constantly challenged and presented with new opportunities, and it is, therefore, vital for power and water professionals to share knowledge and collaborate on a regional basis,” Schiff states.

Zimbabwe-based Southern African Power Pool coordination centre manager Dr Lawrence Musaba, who has been confirmed as one of the keynote speakers at the annual industry meeting, says that current challenges facing the energy sector include “low tariffs [which make] it difficult to invest, power shortages leading to load-shedding, poor maintenance of the electricity infrastructure and poor governance and management”.

He suggests that power utilities should operate as commercial entities, as a move towards “cost-reflective tariffs” would offer significant advantages, while “attracting the private sector would provide the much-needed investment capital”.

Musaba was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2015 African Utility Week Industry Awards.

This year’s Industry Awards, the third such iteration, will again celebrate the triumphs and successes of Africa’s leading power and water projects in twelve award categories, including Water Utility Executive of the Year, Clean Energy Project of the Year and Outstanding Woman in Power.

During African Utility Week, the Power Utility CEO Forum will gather C-level executives from Africa’s leading utilities together to discuss pressing topics within the industry and to accelerate cross-border collaboration across Africa.

Utility executives from countries such as Nigeria, Uganda, Namibia, Ghana, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa are expected to be in attendance.

For 2016, a new Water Utility CEO Forum will run in conjunction with the Power Utility CEO Forum.

State-owned power utility Eskom renewables director Ayanda Nakedi says the CEO Forum is “an important platform where African utilities [can] share the challenges and learnings, which are critical for survival in a dynamic [and] changing environment.