With a 10-year history, The Energy Event has grown to be one of the largest energy exhibitions and conferences in Europe. Taking place on the 13 – 14 September 2011 at the Birmingham NEC, it is the only event dedicated to energy procurement, management and efficiency. Supported by the leading industry associations and organisations, this year’s event will provide the UK’s largest customer-led seminar programme free of charge and will address the key issues of energy availability, affordability and sustainability.

The Energy Event is aimed at all businesses who want to get a grip on their energy use, comply with legislation and procure energy more intelligently. It brings together all of the major energy suppliers and brokers in the UK under one roof as well as presenting the largest seminar programme of its kind in the UK. Visitors have the opportunity to meet exhibitors, learn from industry experts and be inspired by end user led case studies from companies such as Marks & Spencer, Travis Perkins, Polyflor, BT, Arup, BASF and the Olympic Delivery Authority.

Forum for debate Providing a forum for debate and discussion of the biggest issues affecting energy pricing, risk, and the reduction of carbon at the Energy Event is the Energy Insight Conference which brings together leading experts and commentators in the fields of economics, climate change, energy policy and security, the nuclear industry, demand management and carbon reduction.

The largest shake up of the electricity markets since privatisation is occurring and will affect all energy users. The recent report by The Energy and Climate Change Committee stresses that ‘the big omission from the Government’s proposals is a plan for reform of the wholesale electricity market.’ Speakers at The Energy Insight Conference are set to question whether the reform is on the right track.

Commenting recently on the Electricity Market Reform, Tim Yeo MP, Chair of The Energy and Climate Change Committee said: “The Government must go back to the drawing board and come up with a more straightforward and coherent set of plans to reform the electricity market. Radical reform of the wholesale energy market is needed to stop the Big Six from stitching it up, but at the moment Ministers are only tinkering at the margins.”

Shadow Minister for Energy and Climate Change, Huw Irranca-Davies, agreed with the report findings and the fundamental questions it poses, including wholesale electricity market reform, the dominance of the Big Six, lack of liquidity in the market and the inherent problems of a one size fits all policy on the Feed-In-Tariff.

Both government and industry speakers at The Energy Insight Conference suggest that wholesale reform is one way of tackling the perceived market failure but it has to be right or we could end up in a worse position than if we hadn’t started. The reforms have been criticised for having unnecessary mechanisms that will simply lead to higher costs for consumers and fail to raise the £110bn investment that is necessary over the next ten years.

Other speakers in the line up for the Energy Insight Conference include: Professor David Mackay, Chief Scientific Advisor of the Department of Energy & Climate Change, who will give a presentation called ‘What part do major energy users have to play in creating a low carbon, sustainable future?’, Hugh Jones, MD of the Carbon Trust who will talk about ‘Target setting and an introduction to the Carbon Trust Standard’; Volker Beckers, CEO, RWE npower, who will give a presentation entitled ‘Addressing the energy gap – which fuels will become prevalent and how will carbon taxes affect this mix?’; and Sara Vaughan, Director of Regulation and Energy Policy, E.ON who will talk about ‘Cleaner and better energy’.

Industry challenges Taking place at The Energy Information Theatre will be numerous presentations that offer an opportunity for energy professionals to hear case studies and reports from peers about the many energy issues concerning the industry today. Dr Martin Blake founder of Carbon Zero Solutions will give a presentation entitled ‘Strategies for designing an effective carbon reduction strategy for your organisation’ on day one.

As the Head of Sustainability for Royal Mail from 2007 until 2010, Dr Blake led the organisation to reduce its carbon footprint by an impressive 20% over three years. In his current role he provides strategic leadership for companies looking to develop the commercial benefits of adopting a sustainable approach to business. During his presentation Dr Blake will demonstrate the benefits of employing energy saving processes and the compelling case for building your carbon reduction strategy beyond simple compliance.

Also at The Information Theatre visitors will see the presentation on ‘How the Green Deal can save the world’ delivered by the director of the Association for the Conservation of Energy, Andrew Warren. The Green Deal, introduced by the coalition government with the belief that it will “revolutionise” the energy efficiency of British properties, will deliver a framework to enable private firms to offer consumers energy efficiency improvements to their businesses at no upfront cost, and retrieve payments through a charge in instalments on their energy bills. In short, it will help businesses to consume less energy and waste less money by becoming more energy efficient.

Taking control

An example of involvement from a major trade body is a presentation entitled ‘Selecting, monitoring and managing building controls to save energy and money’ that will be delivered by Ian Ellis, President of the Building Controls Industry Association (BCIA). The BCIA, which is taking part in The Energy Event for the first time in 2011, is the Unified Voice of the UK Building Controls Industry and the presentation will promote its main message, which is that building controls are key to saving energy in buildings.

The rich content provided through the conferences compliments the exhibition. Visitors are given access to the leading organisations and associations in the industry, enabling them not only to choose the right energy strategy for their business, but also glean expert information on reducing energy costs and improving efficiency.

The Energy Event is sponsored by British Independent Utilities (BIU), a world class systems-based utility consultancy that specialises in large multi-location portfolios, and will be available to advise visitors on how to position their organisation’s energy strategy to keep costs low and reduce energy risk. 

To register your attendance at The Energy Event 2011, please visit: www.theenergyevent.com