African Utility Week will take place in Cape Town, South Africa, from 20-23 May 2008. Last year, this event attracted the highest level of delegates — over 1000 from 47 countries!

Not to be missed pre-conference workshops will feature expert topics and speakers.

Generation Africa will update the industry on power generation solutions for the on-going power crisis in Africa. Workshops in this track include:

Maintenance and refurbishment, presented by Steinmuller will give insight on how to approach and handle major plant refurbishments and the subsequent long-term maintenance thereof. You will gain insight into the challenges faced by projects. This is becoming a major challenge in the utility business, as demonstrated by the return to services of the mothballed plant and the ageing fleet of power stations beyond design life.

African nuclear power in a decade, presented by Kelvin Kemm, Managing Director, Stratek and Andrew Kenny, an independent Energy Consultant & Nuclear Expert, will give an introduction to nuclear power and will debate whether small nuclear power plants are a viable option for African countries. What does an ‘introduction of a nuclear system’ mean in terms of technology, the law and international regulation? Where can reactor systems be placed and what about waste management?

Transmission & Distribution Africa is an event providing utility professionals with the opportunity to discuss key issues facing the Pan-African TSO and DSO market.

Now in its 9th year, Metering, Billing/CRM Africa is firmly established as the essential meeting place for metering, billing and customer management professionals. Prepayment for water DSM, presented by Johannesburg Water, will discuss prepayment as a solution for water DSM, coupled with recent technology advancements in water prepayment technology. Highlights in this workshop include Johannesburg Water’s implementation strategy towards water demand management and Metering as tool towards demand side management. Operation Gcin’amanzi – progress, challenges and the development of the Johannesburg Waters Prepayment Common Distribution System in Soweto will feature as a separate case study.

Smart Metering MBA & the Smart Grid economy: Emerging business models and opportunities, presented by Philip Bane, Managing Editor, Smart Grid News, USA, will give an introduction on what Smart Metering is and what components are involved. This workshop will give insight on why utilities are implementing Smart Metering and explain the benefits thereof. Scenarios will be given and case studies on the deployment of Smart Metering projects will be showcased.

A review will be given of new models that are already apparent including retail electricity, negaWatts (demand response), micro-grids and grid independence. Trends still on the horizon, including advanced command and control, consumer portals/dashboards and "designer electricity" (consumer choice as rich as that in the telecomm space) will also be addressed. All attendees will be provided with a Smart Grid checklist.

African Utility Week hosts the largest power exhibition in Africa. The platinum sponsors for the 2008 event are ADD Group and Siemens.

For more information, please contact Nicolaas Loretz: nicolaas.loretz@spintelligent.com

tel. +27 21 700 3500,
fax +27 21 700 3501
or visit the website: www.african-utility-week.com