At the Africa Power & Electricity Congress and Exhibition held at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, Dr Johan Slabber, senior nuclear consultant at PBMR, explained South Africa's and argued for nuclear to remain part of Africa's long-term energy mix.

Regional power distribution, alternative sources of energy and how South Africa plans to eradicate power shortages were all under discussion at  the Africa Power & Electricity Congress and Exhibition held at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg from 16 to 20 April 2007.

The conference, co-sponsored by CEF (Pty) Ltd, also looked at ways to achieve an African "super-grid", with several speakers from utilities and regulators across the continent delivering input from their regions.

In addition to the main congress, two full-day master classes were held, which focused on energy management and revenue protection and enhancement, respectively.

Dr Tony Surridge, from Saneri, delivered CEF's address on the first morning of the Congress on behalf of Mr Mputumi Damane, Group CEO, who could not attend.

The presentation focused on renewable energy challenges and solutions for South Afric.

 Mr Thulani Gcabashe, chief executive officer of Eskom also made a presentation looking  at the big picture for electricity and outlined the utility's strategies for future capacity.

Discussions around renewable energy and alternatives to fossil fuels were among the highlights of the conference, with the entire third day of the Congress dedicated to this topic. The session was co-chaired by Mr Kadri Nassiep, CEO of Saneri and Dr Manny Singh, General Manager of the Energy Development Corporation, a division of CEF. Presentations also focused on  the nuclear option, through hydropower and  energy from wind farms.

Dr Johan Slabber, senior nuclear consultant at PBMR, explained South Africa's pebble-bed modular reactor technology and argued for nuclear to remain part of Africa's long-term energy mix, while Hermann Oelsner, chairman of the Darling Independent Power Producer, presented a case study of the Darling Wind Farm (a project co-funded by CEF), suggesting how "green energy" could answer the country's energy crisis.

Other speakers and panel discussions focused on how alternative energy producers could link to national grids.

But in keeping with its billing as Africa's most integrated annual power and electricity congress and exhibition, most of the conference's discussions concerned how the continent could connect its diverse grids.

Dr Alioune Fall, the Senegalese vice-chairperson for Africa of the World Energy Council, filled delegates in on global trends for providing energy and provided some advice on attracting investment to African regional markets as well as discussing the  increasing emphasis on energy sustainability and security.

Speakers  from Zimbabwe, Malawi, Kenya, Zambia and Swaziland participated in a interesting panel discussion on effective integration of regional power grids, while Brian Dames, managing director of Eskom's Enterprises Division, focused on the Project Hotel and Project Alpha - two new projects  - and the recommissioning of mothballed power stations.