Cape Town, 20 - 21 October 2026
Schedule
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Opening remarks & welcome
Keynote interview: Using cheaper, abundant clean energy to power the future of industrial growth
Keynote panel discussion: The next phase of energy investment in South Africa
Keynote address: The changing relationship between energy and the consumer: an alternative vision for solar in South Africa
Protecting the Investment Case: Executive Dialogue on Curtailment and Payment Security
CEO Executive Dialogue - limited seating available
A limited seating dialogue for C-suite leaders from across the solar, wind and storage value chain, confronting the two commercial risks at the top of every energy CEO's agenda: deepening curtailment and escalating offtaker payment risk. Opening with a government scene-setting address and continuing through a moderated executive panel and open discussion, the session works towards a joint industry position on the interventions needed to protect revenue certainty and bankability. Held under the Chatham House Rule. Attendance by invitation as part of the hosted executive tier.
Panel discussion: From emergency power to long-term return: the evolution of energy planning and the role of batteries
Panel discussion: The changing role of battery: managing grid strain, the AI surge and data center demands
SAREGS 2026: The new rules of grid access, wheeling and connection - what every developer and off-taker must know
White paper presentation
An expert presentation will provide the strategic overview, laying the groundwork for the panel discussion that explores the practical implications.
Panel discussion
The South African Renewable Energy Grid Survey (SAREGS) results set the reference point for the next phase of solar deployment. This session unpacks what the new grid access, wheeling and connection rules mean in practice for developers, corporate off-takers and municipalities from the Transmission Development Plan and Independent Transmission Projects to private grid development and what the changes will cost, enable and require of every market participant.
Presentation: The customer voice: What industrial users need from energy providers
Panel discussion: Underperforming assets: the silent profit killer in solar projects and how to change it
Interview: The role of the modern financial institution in renewable energy
Panel discussion: Your plant is losing money right now: The O&M risks every solar owner must address
The costs, horizontal defenses, cyper security and other.
This panel looks specifically at the risks that sit in operations and maintenance. It is not often recognized that O&M costs are one of the strongest drivers of profitability for a PV asset owner. Unexpected costs due to performance or damages (such as cracked panels) can significantly affect the returns and risks are often improperly allocated. This will get more important in a wholesale market where accuracy of performance prediction will become more important. We also deal with the increasingly worrying challenge of cybersecurity in O&M.
Interview: Storage is no longer optional: who needs it and why
Fireside chat: The unregistered system goldmine: auditing, retrofitting, and legalizing existing installs
Panel discussion: Funding the installer economy: finance, growth & scale
Close of day one
Create your personal agenda –check the favourite icon
Opening remarks
Keynote address: Enabling energy freedom in the Western Cape
Keynote panel discussion: The new grid ecosystem: balancing utilities, private generation, and emerging energy traders
Presentation: The changing dynamic of rooftop solar: where and how can C&I customer capitalise
Panel discussion: Solar for all: Financing models to bring PV to households, SMME’s and the unconnected
Universal access to clean, affordable energy remains South Africa's unfinished business. This session examines the financing models that can take solar beyond the commercial mainstream pay-as-you-go and off-grid structures, end-user and SMME finance products, and the roles of government, development finance and organised business in reaching households and communities the grid has left behind.
Panel discussion: Grid access: the biggest dealbreaker in renewable energy
Presentation: The hybrid energy strategy: combining embedded solar and storage with wheeling for lowest cost energy
Presentation: The missing line in your feasibility: solar's uncounted revenue
South Africa has just passed 8.3GW of installed rooftop solar. Most of that capacity sits on malls, warehouses factories and homes. Yet almost every feasibility study behind those installs still stops at the same three lines: capex, tariff savings, payback period.There's a fourth line nobody's modelling.
Panel discussion: Made in South Africa: Can designation, duties and industry collaboration rescue the local solar supply chain?
Bringing together buyers and sellers
A rare convening of both sides of the localisation debate: local manufacturers and component suppliers alongside the EPCs, IPPs and procurement executives who make the buying decisions with policymakers from the DTIC, ITAC and SAREM in the room. This discussion tests whether designation, duties and deliberate industry collaboration can close the gap between local supply and local demand, and what it will take for 'Made in South Africa' to become the market default.
Panel discussion: EV charging & solar integration: building smarter energy and mobility ecosystems
Interview: Wheeling in Cape Town: the new energy market place
Interview: From electricity bill to energy strategy: five levers for businesses to reduce electricity costs
The SCADA Tax: Why grid code compliance costs are killing mid-scale solar and what must change
White paper presentation
An expert presentation will provide the strategic overview, laying the groundwork for the panel discussion that explores the practical implications.
Panel discussion
Grid code compliance costs led by SCADA requirements that can consume a disproportionate share of project capital expenditure are undermining the economics of mid-scale, Category B solar projects. This session presents the findings of SAPVIA's Distributed Generation whitepaper, provides an update on grid code amendments for zero-export plants, and brings real-world member compliance cost experience to the discussion of a proportionate, tiered path forward.
Panel discussion: From backup power to shared value: Virtual Power Plants' role in the future power system
South Africans have spent close to a decade buying their way out of loadshedding, and the rooftop solar, hybrid inverters and batteries now installed at hundreds of thousands of sites represent one of the country's largest flexible resources. Virtual power plants offer the route from private backup to shared value, but the technology is the easy part. This panel will discuss the value that can be unlocked, how it should be shared between customers, aggregators, distributors and the grid, and the technical and regulatory complexity that must be solved to get there.
Panel discussion: Electricity traders & aggregation: The missing link in South Africa’s energy market
Close of conference
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