World Future Energy Summit bullish on the Middle East market

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - ABU DHABI — The World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi is further reinforcing its reputation as a global marketplace for renewable energy and sustainable technology, with organizers confirming over 90 percent of the exhibitor space is sold out for the 2020 event in January. There are also eight countries confirmed to host national pavilions at the event, to promote companies or projects in their markets to an international audience.

With an exhibitor footprint extending from Europe to Asia, into Africa and the Indian subcontinent, and as far as North America, the World Future Energy Summit covers all major nations supplying technology for renewable energy, water, waste, and smart cities. For 2020, the Netherlands will join those countries with a dedicated pavilion on the exhibition floor, alongside Germany, Japan, China, South Korea, Switzerland, India, and France.

Leading renewable energy developers and suppliers exhibiting at the World Future Energy Summit are bullish on the Middle East market.

“The GCC’s rapidly growing demand for clean solar energy provides strong opportunities for solar firms to support the region’s sustainable development through innovation,” said Yingge Wang, Global Marketing Director, LONGi Solar. The China-headquartered company supplies 30GW high-efficiency solar wafers and modules worldwide yearly, a quarter of global demand. “The World Future Energy Summit is a major event for LONGi to meet government, industry experts, and customers to better understand their needs and develop our business to create value in this fast-growing market.”

The UAE’s record-breaking successes in utility-scale solar contribute to the World Future Energy Summit’s appeal, but it’s the event’s international scale that gives it real weight in the market. Showcasing diverse solutions that can be tailored to specific local needs, Abu Dhabi is providing a platform for a wide range of opportunities, from high-income countries to emerging markets, to support sustainable economic growth on a worldwide scale.

Global exhibitors will have access to an impressive profile of potential customers, with around 33,500 attendees expected from 170 countries. Additionally, the World Future Energy Summit hosts more than 200 qualified regional project buyers, who are looking for the latest technologies and innovation to use in their current projects.

“We continue to see a significant increase in international interest for both the event itself and for the region’s efforts in advancing sustainability,” said Grant Tuchten, Group Event Director, World Future Energy Summit. “The market for renewable energy has grown exponentially since our first event in 2008. It is now a prime driver for economic growth, and Abu Dhabi provides a meeting point for some of the most exciting markets in renewables today, with billions of dollars in business opportunities on the table. At the 2019 event, around US$10.5 billion worth of projects were announced on-site.”

The World Future Energy Summit’s strong connections into markets across the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia are a significant drawcard for international companies, while its success in attracting top suppliers is a major attraction for buyers from emerging markets, where renewable energy is at the center of plans for sustainable economic growth.

While the UAE remains the leading Middle East market for installed renewable energy capacity, other GCC states are following quickly. Saudi Arabia aims to achieve 3.45GW of renewable energy next year, rising to 9.5GW by 2023 – about 10 percent of total capacity – combined with reductions in consumption. Some countries are also looking beyond solar, with Kuwait, Oman, and Saudi Arabia all having significant wind potential. Across the full Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, IRENA calculates total ambitions to achieve around 80GW of installed renewable capacity by 2030, based on individual countries’ national targets.

Along with being the Middle East industry’s most important event, the World Future Energy Summit is also recognized as an international showcase for India’s ambitious renewable energy target of 450GW of renewable energy output by 2030. According to government sources, around 83GW of clean energy is now installed, and authorities believe they can more than double the current output to reach 175GW by 2022.

Switzerland ranks first in the INSEAD and World Intellectual Property Organization’s “Global Innovation Index” as the world’s most innovative country, and second globally in the World Economic Forum’s “Fostering Effective Energy Transition” report. At the World Future Energy Summit, the SWISS Pavilion will showcase top Swiss players in renewable energy. Attendees can learn about esave’s intelligent City Lighting solutions, Agile Wind Power’s highly efficient vertical-axis wind turbines, MAN Energy Solutions’ electro-thermal energy storage, and Energy Vault’s mid- and long-duration energy storage systems.

“With Switzerland producing two-thirds of its energy from renewables, Swiss sustainability firms have a strong reputation for high-quality craftsmanship and innovation to support global renewable energy markets,” said Petra Furrer, Responsible for the SWISS Pavilion, SWISS Pavilion at T-LINK. “The World Future Energy Summit enables Swiss organizations to gain new business leads, network with partners and distributors, and present Swiss innovations to a global audience.”

Beyond the exhibition halls, the World Future Energy Summit brings together many of the world’s leading government, business, and industry leaders, to discuss the latest developments in energy, water, solar, waste management, and smart cities.

Speakers in 2019 included Ban Ki-Moon, former Secretary General of the United Nations; Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed Bin Talal Al Saud, Chairman of KBW Ventures; the UAE Minster of Climate Change and Environment; and UAE Ministers of State for Higher Education and Advanced Skills, Food Security, and Advanced Sciences. Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week has hosted current and former Presidents and Royalty of Angola, Armenia, Egypt, France, Iceland, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Mali, Mexico, The Netherlands, Sweden, and the UK.

During the 2020 edition, forum sessions throughout the four-day event will touch upon a range of energy and sustainability challenges faced by countries in the region and across the world. The 2020 programme will explore the impact of innovative technologies such as AI and blockchain on energy transition, as well as solar projects, sustainable waste management, the importance of circular economies, smart cities, and clean transport.

The 2020 edition also reaffirms its commitment to supporting innovation and start-ups, with the Climate Innovation Exchange (CLIX) returning for its third edition as part of the wider Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week. The global start-up marketplace, which is hosted by the UAE Ministry of Climate Change & Environment, will showcase 42 of the world’s most disruptive innovations from 1,402 global submissions from 128 countries related to energy, food, agriculture and space.

The World Future Energy Summit, hosted by Masdar as part of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, a global platform for accelerating the world’s sustainable development, runs at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) from 13-16 January 2020.

Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week will take place on Jan. 11-18, 2020. – SG