Business Bureau, Gulf Today

The World Future Energy Summit (WFES) in Abu Dhabi is further reinforcing its reputation as a global marketplace for renewable energy and sustainable technology, with organisers confirming over 90 per cent of the exhibition 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 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 $10.5 billion worth of projects were announced on-site.”

The 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 centre 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 per cent 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 recognised 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.

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.

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.