Water use and preservation will be a strong focus for the sixteenth African Utility Week and Clean Power Africa conference and trade exhibition that will run from May 17 to 19 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

“The strong focus on water will include trying to find solutions in areas regarding water efficiency, wastewater management and the water-energy nexus,” says African Utility Week events director Evan Schiff.

The African Utility Week and Clean Power Africa conference and trade exhibition is organised by Cape Town-based events management company Spintelligent.

Schiff adds that the conference will also address the latest challenges, developments and opportunities in the power and water sectors – ranging from generation, metering, clean energy, finance, reliability, water supply and energy efficiency.

Moreover, Schiff points out that the conference will once again showcase success stories in clean energy and look at bankable power projects, with energy storage being discussed as a possible game changer for energy inde- pendence.

The conference and trade exhibition attract 6 000 stakeholders worldwide and include engineers and solution providers. The event will feature 250 exhibitors, 250 speakers, a six-stream strategic conference, a free-to-attend technical conference on the expo floor, three high- profile keynote session and technical site visits, as well as an industry awards gala dinner.

“The industry awards will again celebrate the triumphs and successes of Africa’s leading power and water projects and people in 12 awards categories, including Water Utility Executive of the Year, Clean Energy Project of the Year and Outstanding Woman in Power,” he says.

Another key feature of the conference will be the Power Utility CEO Forum, which brings together C-level executives from Africa’s leading utilities to discuss pressing topics in the industry and accelerate cross-border collaboration across Africa.

Schiff says utility executives from countries such as Nigeria, Uganda, Namibia, Ghana Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa are expected to return for this year’s edition of the conference.

In addition, a new Water Utility CEO Forum will also run in conjunction with the Power Utility CEO Forum this year.

The speakers for the conference will include University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business Professor Anton Eberhard – who will chair the session – African Union Ethiopian infrastructure and energy commissioner Dr Elham Mahmoud Ahmed Ibrahim, Bloomberg UK New Energy Finance founder Michael Liebreich and sustainable electri- city and gas company Duke Energy former CEO James Rogers.