Amidst the fast-growing market for renewable energy, the World Future Energy Summit offers an apt platform for buyers, distributors, project owners and consultants to find new technologies and products

Around 33,500 visitors from 170 countries and more than 200 qualified regional project buyers will be coming to the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (Adnec) for the World Future Energy Summit (WFES) in search of the latest technologies and innovation to use in their current projects.

The summit is further reinforcing its reputation as a global marketplace for renewable energy and sustainable technology.

WFES, which runs from January 13-16, 2020, is being hosted by Masdar as part of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week–a global platform for accelerating the world’s sustainable development. Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week takes place from January 11-18.

Eight countries will have their national pavilions at the event to promote companies or projects in their markets to an international audience, including the Netherlands, Germany, Japan, China, South Korea, Switzerland, India, and France.

The market for renewable energy is growing exponentially

“We continue to see a significant increase in international interest for both the event itself and for the region’s efforts in advancing sustainability,” says Grant Tuchten, Group Event Director, WFES.

“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.”

With an exhibitor footprint extending from Europe to Asia, into Africa and the Indian Subcontinent, and as far as North America, WFES covers all major nations supplying technology for renewable energy, water, waste, and smart cities.

Leading renewable energy developers and suppliers exhibiting at the 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,” says Yingge Wang, Global Marketing Director, LONGi Solar.

The China-headquartered company supplies 30 GW 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 WFES’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.

WFES’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 3.45 GW of renewable energy next year, rising to 9.5 GW 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 Mena region, IRENA calculates total ambitions to achieve around 80 GW of installed renewable capacity by 2030, based on individual countries’ national targets.

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

Switzerland ranks first in the INSEAD and World Intellectual Property Organisation’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 WFES, 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,” says Petra Furrer, Responsible for the SWISS Pavilion at T-LINK.

“The World Future Energy Summit enables Swiss organisations to gain new business leads, network with partners and distributors, and present Swiss innovations to a global audience.”

Beyond the exhibition halls, WFES 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 UN; Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed Bin Talal Al Saud, Chairman of KBW Ventures; UAE Minister 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 summit inspires the advancement and transfer of ideas, technology and investment across borders and between the public and private sectors worldwide, helping to stimulate sustainable growth for all stakeholders.