New academic conference to run in collaboration with leading wind energy conference Windaba

In recognition of the importance of research towards a cleaner and more sustainable production of energy in South Africa and the world, anew academic conference WindAc Africa will run for the first time on the 31 October – 1 November, directly before the South African Wind Energy Association’s (SAWEA) annual Cape Town conference Windaba.

In recognition of the importance of research towards a cleaner and more sustainable production of energy in South Africa and the world, anew academic conference WindAc Africa will run for the first time on the 31 October – 1 November, directly before the South African Wind Energy Association’s (SAWEA) annual Cape Town conference Windaba.

“Increasingly, we received very high quality presentation submissions for Windaba that would fit in an academic conference – therefore the excitement about an academic sister event where these can be given exposure. The amazing progress towards sustainable development around wind farms in South Africa through the Enterprise Development/Socio-Economic Development commitments further enables us to broaden WindAc Africa into a multi-disciplinary conference spanning mechanical and electrical engineering and extending to developmental economics, environmental science and even political science plus others,” explains SAWEA CEO Johan van den Berg. “This to my knowledge is unique internationally and puts us at the forefront of the climate/sustainability nexus that underpins the international climate regime.”

Windaba, which will be held on 2-3 November at Cape Town’s International Convention Centre is the biggest wind energy conference in South Africa and it attracts delegates and speakers from all over the world. The very nature of its participants means that the conference programme is required to cover broader, more general subjects related to wind energy. WindAc Africa will offer a platform for an international high-quality academic exchangeon a broad spectrum of research topics in wind power including technical, environmental, socio-economic and policy subjects.

The theme of WindAc Africa will be the same as this year’s Windaba: ‘Towards 100% renewables’ and the content of the programme will be determined on the advice of a prestigious international steering committee representing global research organisations, who will also make recommendations going forward for the conference to become an annual sister conference toWindaba.

The format of the conference this year will consist of entirely plenary sessions with no parallel break outs.

WindAc Africa will be held at SARETEC Training Centre, Sacks Circle, Sacks Circle Industrial, Cape Town.Further information can be found at: www.windac-africa.com

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Editor’s notes:
For further information, please contact: Jo Reeves, jo@sawea.co.zaor admin@sawea.org.za or call +27 (0) 11 2140664.

About SAWEA
SAWEA is a non-profit, industry organisation representing the wind industry in South Africa. Its members include both national and international entities active in the entire wind energy supply chain. Its aim is to promote the sustainable use of commercial wind energy in South Africa; to contribute knowledge and human resources to the streamlining of the policy and regulatory framework for wind in SA; to facilitate synergy between the growth of the industry and the achievement of the broader socio-economic aims of Government (including training, job creation and localisation); to disseminate information; to act as a focal point for discussion between members, government, the media and the public.

Windaba 2016
Windaba is the annual official wind industry event hosted by the South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA) in partnership with Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC). The annual conference and exhibition will take place in November 2016, at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. For further information, please visit www.windaba.co.za