West African Clean Energy exhibition set for Nov 3
The Delegation of German Industry and Commerce (AHK) in Ghana, the German government’s official trade promotion office for West Africa, says Ghana has a conducive environment for the development of off-grid power solutions to supplement conventional sources of energy in the country.
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A delegate of the German Industry and Commerce in Ghana, Mr Patrick Martens, told the Daily Graphic that manufacturing concerns as well as companies in the telecom, hospitality, food and beverages, mining and other sectors could be the trailblazers in creating power systems from renewable sources, which are independent of the national grid.
Interacting with the Daily Graphic on the upcoming West African Clean Energy and Environment & Conferences Exhibition (WACEE’15), Mr Martens said high net worth individuals could also deploy off-grid clean energy systems to power their homes, a move which would not only serve a good example to draw others but would also relieve the grid of the usua
“Developing off-grid solutions can be deployed faster and will have a positive impact on the grid. It will create a patient environment for directing more investments into the national grid to make it more reliable,” Mr Martens stated.
The specialised fair
WACEE is a specialised fair and an exclusive event in West Africa for the display of the cutting-edge and trending technologies in the industry from Germany and Europe.
Organised by AHK, which is also the representative of the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce, the exhibition is the exclusive platform for showcasing clean energy and waste management solutions as well as related products, services and technologies.
Representatives of about 25 German and European businesses in clean energy and environmental management will converge on Accra from November 3-5, 2015 to interact and network with prospective partners from West Africa in an annual event which started about five years ago.
They will be looking for credible partners, representatives and sustainable markets for their products, while exploiting local opportunities for mutual benefit.
This year, the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi), in cooperation with the Association of the German Trade Fair Industry (AUMA), are supporting the fair.
The Delegate of the German Industry and Commerce in Ghana said this year’s exhibition and conferences would partner with the Ghana Renewables (Ghana Re), a collection of indigenous enterprises in renewable energy which the Ministry of Energy had assembled for a match-making and networking event.
Conferences
There will be conferences on various thematic areas taking place alongside the exhibition at the ground of the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC), where about 70 speakers from Ghana and the European Union are scheduled to speak.
The “German Solar Training Week” will also come off from November 3-6, 2015 at WACEE where German system integrators, project developers and technology providers will conduct professional workshops on state-of-the-art solar technology and services.
The training is organised by the Project Development Programme (PDP), which is implemented by the German technical cooperation, (GIZ) within its ‘renewables – Made in Germany’ initiative. The initiative has been working in Ghana since 2013.
The event and conferences are expected to attract between 1,500 and 1,700 visitors, mostly professionals.
Mr Martens called on banks and financial institutions to show keen interest in the renewables energy space, saying once the feed-in-tariffs were fully implemented, it would make the industry viable and hence attractive to financial institutions.