Middle East Energy, the Middle East and Africa’s most comprehensive energy exhibition, is set for its largest show to date when the doors open on the 49th edition this month in Dubai, UAE.

The annual show, which will run from April 16 to 18, will span 14 halls at Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) – four more than in 2023 – and occupy 28,500 sq m of exhibition space, a 35 per cent increase on last year’s event.

There has been a positive rise in exhibitors, with more than 1,500 local and international companies signed up and ready to present their innovative solutions across renewables, transmission and distribution, smart solutions, energy consumption and management, back-up generators, and critical power, said Informa Markets, the organiser of the event.

“Exhibitors have been encouraged by the growing investment in the region’s energy transformation roadmaps and by the show’s wide visitor catchment area,” said Azzan Mohammed, Exhibition Director, Energy portfolio at Informa Markets.

“Last year, we achieved a record visitor intake of more than 52,000 industry professionals from the Gulf, wider Middle East, Africa, and the Indian Sub-continent. That represented a jump of 155 per cent on 2022, meaning exhibitors had access to a vast array of potential customers from a geographic outreach that otherwise may have been difficult to penetrate. Hence, this year, we already have 15 national and industry-specific pavilions confirmed.”

Last year, Middle East Energy attracted more than 52,000 industry professionals.

Country pavilion commitments have been received from China, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Italy, Korea, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Spain, Taiwan, Turkey, the UK, while industry pavilions include InterSolar.

The 2024 edition will also feature three high-level strategic conferences – The Leadership Summit, Technical Seminars and Intersolar & ees Middle East Conference, with industry experts providing valuable insights on energy transitions, case studies of real-world energy solutions and discussing the pressing sustainability challenges, said the organiser.

“World experts are being commissioned to provide invaluable insights that will inform national blueprints for energy transitions, case studies of real-world energy solutions, explore the industry’s pressing sustainability challenges and lay the groundwork for integrating renewables into the mix,” added Mohammed.

This year, as part of its VIP Hosted Buyer Programme, Middle East Energy is also introducing Boardroom Briefings to bring together key global stakeholders, investors, and suppliers from the energy industry. Key briefing topics include the bulk impact of the electric vehicle (EV) market on electricity systems, the decarbonisation of mature power assets, securing energy to revamp power systems, microgrid operations and control, entrepreneurship, and local development in the GCC’s utilities sector, and power sector risk management by development financial institutions in the Middle East.

“Middle East Energy has consistently demonstrated its value as a business generator,” added Mohammed. “The 2023 edition achieved a mammoth onsite order book valued in excess of $1.86 billion. With sustainability and energy transition now topping national agendas across a region facing increased energy demand from rising populations and diversified economies, the 2024 event could realistically be expected to set a new declared show order intake record.”

Visitors can register for Middle East Energy 2024 at https://middleeast-energy.me/3Pkwu7v