High Expectations for EAPIC as Hundreds of Energy Experts Meet in Nairobi Next Week to Discuss, Debate and Learn

Nairobi, Kenya, August 29, 2014 --(PR.com)-- More than a thousand people will gather for the annual East African Power Industry Convention (EAPIC) in Nairobi from 3-4 September as the region prepares for massive investments in the power sector. Not only will the event bring together the region’s leading power utilities, investors, technology and service providers, but also offers free practical workshops to help the industry and large power users improve efficiency and productivity.

Kenyan utilities KENGEN, Kenya Power, KETRACO and the Ministries of Energy are key partners again in what is the 16th edition of the longest running power conference and expo in East Africa. Large East African utilities such as Tanesco, UEGCL, UMEME, EEPCO and many more will also be present again this year.

Pending energy investments
Last year, the East Africa Community revealed a $64-billion dollar spending plan on joint power projects in the region for the next 25 years to generate eight times more power than is currently available. This presents massive opportunities to all the stakeholders in the region’s energy sector, says EAPIC conference director Irene Ochem: “it also shows a marked rise in confidence that the region has in itself but also by investors in the East African power market and is a welcome catalyst in ensuring a stable, future power supply that will drive the regional economy forward. EAPIC will gather industry professionals and regulators to seek out solutions on how the region is to meet these ambitious generation capacity goals.”

Industry invited to come and learn
Two days of free practical workshops on energy efficiency, plant maintenance and clean energy solutions for the utility and large power users sector are also presented during EAPIC, offering practical solutions, lessons learnt from case studies and problem-solving mechanisms to assist power companies and utilities in improving their efficiency and productivity.

Says Irene Ochem: “We want to invite the industry to come and learn and get their hands dirty and learn about the latest industry developments from the experts that we have brought here to share their best practice and experience. There are more than 10 sessions, which are presented on the expo floor, to choose from.”

Highlights of opening session on 3 Sep at 09h00:
• Opening address: One year on – An update on Kenya’s 5,000MW plans
Davis Chirchir, Cabinet Secretary, Minister of Energy and Petroleum, Kenya
• Mitigating constraints around growth in power and energy
Tibor Almassy, PwC Partner, Infrastructure Industry & East Markets Deals Leader, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Limited, Kenya
• Executive Roundtable: Building the power capacity for regional growth
Chairman: Mark Carrato, Acting Deputy Mission Director/Director Agriculture Business and Energy Officer (ABEO), USAID, Kenya
Panellists:
- Albert Mugo, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen), Kenya
- Ben Chumo, Chief Executive Officer, Kenya Power, Kenya
- Felschesmi Mramba, Chief Executive Officer, Tanesco, Tanzania
- Joel Kiilu , Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, KETRACO, Kenya
- John Gibbs, PwC Partner, Capital & Project Finance, Kenya
- Ute Redecker, Vice President Energy Africa, Siemens, South Africa

Event dates and location:
Conference and expo: 3-4 September – Press briefing at 11h30 on expo floor
Pre-conference workshops: 2 September
Site visits: 5 September