Dubai Power Conference To Hear Of ‘CAUTIOUS’ Recovery For Regional Generator Market

Transformative technology and practices which are evolving the power sector are to come under detailed scrutiny in Dubai in early 2019 with the staging of the two-day ‘Revolutionizing Power Generation Conference’, a part of Middle East Electricity (MEE), running March 6-7 at Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC).

A key feature of MEE 2019, the conference is the highlight of the show’s expansive knowledge programme, which features 94 hours of free CDP-accredited conferences and seminars including case-study-led sessions.

Speakers from 10 nations are lined up for the conference, which puts operations and maintenance of large-scale utilities, as well as independent power producers, into sharp focus. Some of the biggest names and emerging players in the business will address the challenges, pinpoint growth opportunities and identify technologies and tactics needed to survive in a rapidly changing industry.

With various experts preparing to drill down into how the industry can improve profitability through advanced technology migration and new methodology implementation, one speaker has already sounded an optimistic note of a “cautious” generator upturn for the region.

Romain Mocaer, Director of the French forecaster PowerGen Statistics, believes the unique Middle Eastern generator sector – which represents 10% of the global market – has “huge” growth opportunity and expects an uptick in the short term. Mocaer pinpoints the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Iraq as growth drivers with expansion filtering through oil & gas, construction and infrastructure projects.

“The generator market has recovered in Europe and North America, but there has been a slowdown in some emerging markets, including the Middle East, which has significantly decreased in the last few years. However, the diesel generator market can look forward to a cautious recovery in 2019, as the modest rise of oil prices and the positive construction market outlook should drive growth in the generator market, especially in Saudi Arabia. The region will also host many major global events, such as Expo 2020 Dubai, in coming years to further drive growth,” said Mocaer.

Issues to be explored at the conference include: digital retrofits; refining power plant performance with air-cooled condensers and cloud-based analytics; reliability-centered maintenance, and investments that can alter the levelised cost of electricity for power generation. Experts are aligned on one aim – to explore how the industry can improve profitability through advanced technology migration and new methodology implementation.

Conference speaker Engr. Mahmoud Zeineddine, Co-Founder & Manager of the Organisation for Safety & Sustainability (OSAS), maintains technology will not only impact bottom-line, but will improve regional safety records as smart-sensor mobile tracking becomes the norm.

“Throughout the session, we will be discussing measures to be taken to prevent human losses and injuries in workplaces. The key trend we are witnessing in the sector is the use of social interactions – mobile applications – to monitor and audit the safety work in the industrial zones,” said Zeineddine.

The conference will also feature case studies from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon and Ghana, as well as the unveiling of new research on preventative maintenance for international combustion engines using AI and big data.

“We are aiming for the conference to really shine the light on breakthroughs which will change not only the burgeoning generator market, but the face of the industry. All of the sessions in the power generation content stream are free-to-attend and CPD accredited,” says Claudia Konieczna, Exhibition Director – Informa Industrial Group.

The conference is being held against a backdrop of a bullish forecast by the Arab Petroleum Investment Corporation (APICORP). The multilateral development bank has predicted the MENA region’s power capacity will expand by an average of 6.4% per year by 2022, corresponding to additional capacity of 117 gigawatts and requiring US$ 152 Bn of investment in generation capacity.

Power generation is one of five dedicated sectors within the wide Middle East Electricity show profile. The remaining sectors are: transmission and distribution; lighting; solar; and energy storage and management.

Middle East Electricity is held under the patronage of HH Sheikh Maktoum Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Deputy Ruler and is hosted by the UAE Ministry of Energy.