Answering your energy needs

The Energy Event is held at the National Motorcycle Museum, Birmingham on the 8th and 9th of September.Here,IP&E summarises what the event has to offer as the UK's only annual exhibition and conference to focus on energy procurement, management and efficiency,and water efficiency

The Energy Event is one of Europe's largest exhibitions and conferences focusing solely on energy procurement, management and efficiency and this year's event is sponsored by the independent price risk management specialist Encore International. The event addresses current issues through its seminar programme as well as offering the chance for visitors to meet the biggest players in energy at the exhibition.

The seminar programme provides visitors with discussions that are both relevant and authoritative on issues that really matter to the industry. The conference program is defined with two key groups: Firstly, there are the seminars delivered by the trade organisations; the Energy Services & Technology Association (ESTA), the Major Energy Users Council (MEUC), and the Chartered Institute of Building Service Engineers (CIBSE). npower is hosting its own zone and will also run a seminar.

And secondly, there is a series of seminars that fall under the Energy Insight conference banner, which consists of two half day sessions and provides directors, energy procurement specialists and those at major energy user organisations with an insight into the UK energy market. It brings together leading experts and commentators in the fields of economics, climate change, energy policy & security, nuclear industry, demand management and carbon reduction.

Chaired on both days by director of the Energy Intensive Users'Group (EIUG) Jeremy Nicholson, the headline topic on the first day of the Energy Insight conference is 'The Energy Retail Agenda'which will discuss energy generation and consumption and assist with understanding energy policy, combating volatility and creating market opportunities.

To illustrate this, director of Network Operations for National Grid, Chris Train will present a paper entitled: 'Concerns over the security of supply - A burden of the times or not as bad as everyone makes out?' which will cover how energy generation and storage capacity across the UK has changed over the last decade and whether Liquefied Natural Gas is a global solution for capacity constraints.

Another paper to be delivered is entitled 'Procurement and you: Credit risk and market constraints' and will cover trading opportunities in the energy retail market and life as an energy retailer, looking at cost, competition and consumers.

The headline topic for the second day of the conference is 'The Climate Agenda'. As well as asking if government targets, business compliance and a healthier environment are realistically achievable, a keynote speech will be delivered by Chairman of Shell UK and President of the Energy Institute, James Smith, which is entitled 'Stepping up to the Energy Challenge'. This will be supplemented with a presentation from Senior Policy Advisor on Climate Change for the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), Emma Wild on 'Implementing initiatives: Costs and benefits of carbon reduction programmes'.

In addition to the seminar programme, there are also some of the biggest names in energy generation, energy procurement and all manner of energy management technology and service providers exhibiting.

Among the 120 exhibitors, core disciplines such as heating, compressed air, motors, drives, ventilating, air conditioning and lighting are well represented as are other technologies including voltage optimisation, thermography, and water softeners.

Exhibitors specialising in energy monitoring and targeting, energy procurement, consultancy and purchasing are also present.

The Energy Event is free to enter, has free parking and it is highly recommend that visitors to the event register in advance for entry tickets and especially for seminar places as these are extremely popular. The other sponsors for the show include: Power Perfector, nower, EDF Energy and the Utilities Exchange.

To register, and for more information on exhibitors and the seminar programme, visit the new website: www.theenergyevent.co