Energy Minister Dipuo Peters is visiting Abu Dhabi this week to attend the 6th World Future Energy Summit, the Zayed Future Energy Prize Award Ceremony and the third session of the Assembly of International Renewable Energy Agency.

Now in its sixth year, the World Future Energy Summit is the world’s foremost annual meeting, committed to promoting advancement of future energy technologies, including renewable energy, energy efficiency, water and waste management. It brings together global leaders in policy, technology and business to discuss new ways of thinking and shaping the future of renewable energy.

Since its inception in 2009, the Zayed Future Energy Prize (ZFEP) has been growing in terms of the number of participants it attracts annually as it has become a recognised event by the global renewable energy and sustainability community.

The ZFEP convene annually as a final stage of the evaluation process to decide on the prize winners in the five (monetary and non-monetary) prize categories, namely: the Large Corporation, Non-Governmental Organisation, Small Medium Enterprises, Life Time Achievements and Global High Schools. It is for this reason that the minister will form part of the 5th ZFEP annual award ceremony that will be bestowing prize and recognition to the category winners. Peters will represent President Jacob Zuma as a Jury member.

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) was established to promote the widespread and increased adoption and sustainable use of all forms of renewable energy.

Peters signed the IRENA Statutes on 17 January 2010, enabling South Africa to become a full member of the agency. South Africa ratified the IRENA Statutes in 2010, which ultimately made the country to form part of the assembly.

The Integrated Resources Plan commits South Africa to have up to 42% of electricity generated through renewable energy in the period between 2010 and 2030. It is in this context that the Department of Energy’s participation in IRENA is of strategic importance not only to be part of annual council deliberations but to use this platform to forge relations with partners to facilitate realisation of this objective.