Highlights: Singapore International Energy Week

Professor AbuBakr Bahaj, head of the Sustainable Energy Research Group, was invited to attend the Singapore International Energy Week (SIEW) 2013, where he presented an invited paper and chaired the Round Table on the Role of Government in Ocean Renewable Energy (ORE) and its Impact to Industries. He was also involved in various discussions on policy and the role of regional institutions in Marine Energy.

Asia Future Energy Forum – 29th October 2013

Prof Bahaj chaired the opening plenary of the Asia Future Energy Forum, titled: ‘Renewable Energy Market and Policy Outlook’. The plenary involved discussions with experts on regional trends and government initiatives that drive energy market developments in onshore and offshore renewables.  The discussion involved talks from representatives of the Nova Scotia Department of Energy (Canada),Bloomberg New Energy Finance (Singapore) and the Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency (Thailand). The talks covered Ocean Renewable Energy, Offshore Wind and Solar Energy.

The Role of Government in Ocean Renewable Energy (ORE) and its Impact to Industries – 31^st October 2013

From left, Justin Wu, Cameron Johnstone, Bruce Cameron, Drew Blaxland, AbuBakr Bahaj, Stuart Baird, Hardiv Situmeang, David Mark Ingram and Lu Kuan

Prof Bahaj moderated and summed up the discussion in the Round Table ‘The Role of Government in Ocean Renewable Energy and its Impact to Industries’. The event was an opportunity for academics, government officials, industry players and civil society groups to come together, with the following aims;

1. To provide a platform for the discussion and exchange of ideas, views, and insights among different stakeholders including the government sectors, academia, industry players, and civil society on the role, potential, and development of ocean renewable energy in the region and its impact to industries.
2. To provide a venue where government officials, academics, industry players, and civil society groups from the region can meet and work with one another not only on ocean renewable energy research collaboration, but most importantly on possibility of streamlining ORE policies in the region.
3. To promote intra and inter-regional collaboration on ocean renewable energy policy-making, research and development through institutions like the ASEAN.

Other speakers at the event included representatives from Nova Scoita Department of Energy(Canada), Nautricity Limited, Ocean Energy Systems, University of Edinburgh, Atlantis Resources Corporation, ASEAN Centre for Energy, Bloomberg New Energy Finance and European Marine Energy Centre. The panellists agreed that Ocean Renewable Energy needs to overcome cost challenges before it can become viable.