Invitation to submit abstracts for DistribuTECH conference

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In issuing a call for papers for the next event, Dr Willie de Beer, chairman of the DistribuTECH Africa Advisory Board, says DistribuTECH Africa enjoyed a highly successful launch alongside POWER-GEN Africa in Cape Town this year.

"We saw this year that utilities and municipalities across Africa are highly challenged with sustainability, and that there was keen interest from delegates in best practice information around distribution. With this in mind, the Advisory Board believes the DistribuTECH Africa 2015 programme should do yet more to help them address these challenges and therefore, we will focus more on distribution in 2015," he says.

Dr de Beer notes that because DistribuTECH Africa is collocated with POWER-GEN Africa, power sector stakeholders are given a rare opportunity to attend tracks and review solutions across the entire electricity value chain.

Specialised areas

"Delegates are able to focus on niche, specialised areas, or attend a broad range of tracks across both DistribuTECH Africa and POWER-GEN Africa to gain broad, high-level insights. With the top quality, valuable information being delivered in six concurrent tracks across both events, the only challenge delegate's face is choosing which tracks to attend," he says.

The Advisory Board is now accepting abstracts for the 2015 conference, and is seeking experts and thought leaders capable of stimulating debate, delivering innovative ideas and cutting-edge solutions to address critical issues and transform industry practices.

Dr de Beer says speakers will share their knowledge, experience and ideas with strategic and technical decision-makers and planners, impacting on the future of African power. "While the Advisory Board has identified key challenge areas and topical issues that should be addressed at the conference, we also welcome abstract submissions covering new areas of discussion which have not been included in the preliminary programme. The goal is to deliver to stakeholders the broadest possible insights into best practice, policy, financing and learning."

Experts in the field, academics, consultants and hands-on stakeholders are invited to submit abstracts with a view to delivering talks at DistribuTECH Africa 2015. Topic areas include power delivery, development, financing, metering, system automation and operations, smart grids, sustainability, local government, regulations, distributed generation and its impact on the grid, data management and analytics and communication technology.

The deadline for abstracts is 10 October 2014.