NEWS specialreport
WFES2012
A summit to remember Anoop K Menon sums up the key activities and announcements at the World Future Energy Summit (WFES) in Abu Dhabi last month
T
he final visitor numbers are yet to be declared, but there was little doubt that the World Future Energy Summit (WFES) 2012, which completed its fifth edition last month, is now firmly established in the global renewable energy events calendar. The pre-event numbers shared by the organisers speak for themselves – over 26,000 attendees 3,000 delegates, 650 exhibiting companies and 20 national pavilions. With 10 Arab states setting quotas for renewable power generation ranging between five and 42% and Europe experiencing a slump, the renewable energy industry's new mantra could well be 'Look Middle East.' Analysts estimate that delivering on the quotas will require a three-fold increase in renewable energy capacity across the MENA to at least 27,000 MW. This year, the UN representation was fairly strong with International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) setting a busy agenda and the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon returning for second consecutive year to launch the International Year of Sustainable Energy for All. Chinese premier Wen Jiabao, who delivered the keynote during the opening ceremony, pointed out that that energy is the material basis of human civilisation and progress and indispensable to the development of modern society. Interestingly, he put energy efficiency first in list of do’s to address the “inequality caused by the issue of energy resources,” followed by clean energy, development of innovative energy technologies and energy security. He said that China’s energy consumption per GDP has fallen by about 20% between 2005 and 2010, and there are plans to cut energy and carbon intensities further. Kim Hwang-sik, Prime Minister, Republic of Korea, who delivered the second keynote, underscored that Korea invests two per cent of its GDP annually in green
22
•
• February2012
technologies and aims to become the world’s fifth largest producer of green energy by 2030. In his keynote, Ban KiMoon called for an end to energy poverty, which deprives one person in five of access to modern electricity and makes three billion people rely on wood, coal, charcoal or animal waste for cooking and heating. He underlined the need for scaling up successful clean energy and energyefficient technologies, encouraging innovations benefiting the developing world and partnering with the private sector. He also highlighted the three objectives to be achieved by 2030 under his Sustainable Energy for All Initiative, namely ensuring universal access to modern energy services to all the people around the world; doubling the rate in improvement of energy efficiency and doubling the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix. Despite the emphasis on energy efficiency in the key note speeches, the launch of United Nations Industrial Development Organisation’s (UNIDO) flagship report, ‘Industrial Energy Efficiency for Sustainable Wealth Creation: Capturing environmental, economic and social dividends’ during WFES went relatively unnoticed. With energy-intensive manufacturing industry one of the cornerstones of the region’s economic diversification strategy, industrial energy efficiency is surely going to become a priority area in the years to come. The report argues that industrial energy efficiency is one of the most effective ways for keeping carbon emissions under check, thus providing environmental benefits, releasing resources for social inclusion programmes while improving the corporate bottom line. On the plus side, the Zayed Future Energy Prize (ZFEP 2012) in the category of ‘Large Corporations’ went to Schneider Electric, which calls itself “the global specialist in energy management.” The award was received by JeanPascal Tricoire, President and CEO, Schneider Electric, whom I had the pleasure of interviewing at WFES 2011 and whose passionate espousal of energy efficiency left with you zero doubts on its merits. ZFEP also rewarded winners in the categories of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) & Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and Lifetime Achievement awards for individuals who received a total prize fund of $4 million, which now includes a $500,000 prize that will be awarded to High Schools in 2013.
Projects update
On the projects front, a total of 25 key renewable energy projects, with a combined value of $4 billion, participated in this year’s Project Village. Flagship projects included a 200 MW wind farm under development on the Gulf of Suez, led by Egypt’s New and Renewable Energy Authority, a 160 MW solar power plant in Morocco and $400 million Shams Ma’an PV power plant under way in Jordan. Exhibitor