Globalisation, innovation in renewable energies and energy efficiency all had their place at GENERA 2017.

The event, which has just completed its twentieth exhibition, presented innovative products and services from 76 companies and received visits from 10,961 professionals from 54 countries.

The programme of technical workshops brought together 1,200 participants.

GENERA 2017, the twentieth International Energy and Environment Trade Fair took place from 28 February to 3 March in Hall 1 at the IFEMA Exhibition Centre. It was visited by 10,961 visitors from 54 countries and included the participation of 76 exhibitors demonstrating the latest advances in the products and services in the field of renewables, energy efficiency and sustainability.

The event was organised by IFEMA, with the support of the Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (IDAE). The hall contained an interesting variety of innovations and technological solutions which included those related to self-supply, energy monitoring, the development of large-scale solar power generation projects, energy resource storage and the management of energy consumption. A number of different proposals were also unveiled such as electric vehicle charging systems.

Scope of the exhibition and professional profile

The exhibition had a national scope with visitors present from all the autonomous communities. In this regard, 43% of the professionals were from Madrid and 50% from the other Spanish regions, in order of attendance from: Andalucía, Castilla y León and Valencia.

A total of 7% of the visitors came from abroad, with professionals from 54 countries present, particularly those from Portugal.

The professional profile with greatest representation was that of installers and maintenance technicians, with 16% of participants, followed by consultants and engineers involved in project design and development, with 14%. There was also a significant presence from professionals from the energy service companies (ESCOs), with 7%, as well as architects, builders and real estate developers, with 8%.

Technical Workshops

The extensive programme of technical workshops included a total of 18 sessions, bringing together 1,200 participants.

A number of topics were the subject of analysis and debate by the main representatives of the industry and the industry associations as part of these technical conferences. These topics included energy efficiency in urban environments, perspectives on the evolution of different renewable energy sources, energy services, technological innovations in the fields of mobility and transport infrastructures, renewable energy use in buildings and self-supply.

GENERA also welcomed, from 28 February to 1 March, the first event in the Business Beyond Borders (BBB) project, comprising B2B, C2C and B2C matchmaking meetings. The BBB event was opened by the Secretary of State for Energy and it has only been held in 10 trade fairs around the world. A total of 300 people participated in the event from more than 200 SMEs from 20 countries.

Once again this year, GENERA presented its INNOVATION GALLERY, a space for the promotion of R&D&i within the sector. The gallery included exhibits from a total of 14 innovative projects, whose focus encompassed services for promoting smart grids, the implementation of new technologies for energy saving and generation and the inclusion of photovoltaic electricity and home automation systems in houses and other dwellings.