Starting from the FC fuel cell exposition 9 years ago and after the continuous increase of energy themes, World Smart Energy Week 2013 is now an energy exposition that covers 8 different themes. PV EXPO and other individual expositions have all expanded their scale, and Wind EXPO that focuses on wind energy also joined the exposition this year. Curious about the future projects and development of this biggest energy exposition in Japan, we interviewed Mr. Takeshi Tanaka, Secretary-General of the organizer Reed Exhibitions Japan. Responsible for World Smart Energy Week, Mr. Takeshi Tanaka is to answer some questions regarding the exposition.

Mr. Tanaka talked about the development of World Smart Energy Week, indicating that it is among the industry the only professional exposition that covers power generation, energy control, energy storage and power saving. The future plan is to add new popular energy types or technology to the exposition and influence markets in addition to the Japanese market. This year, for instance, wind power was introduced in the exposition.  

Many new projects for next year’s exposition are still under discussion. Next year will be the 10th year of FC EXPO (an exposition for fuel cells), so new projects are expected to take place; however, they are unwilling to reveal the projects just yet. Reed Exhibitions hopes to include all types of projects, and some companies have already taken the initiative to discuss with them the possibilities of participating in certain categories of the exposition. Therefore, World Smart Energy Week may continue to expand, and its influence may also be more powerful in the future.

This year’s new wind power exposition Wind Expo not only brought good response but also stimulated business discussions, thus the exposition scale is expected to double, exhibitor countries are expected to increase from 15 to 30, and every upstream and downstream wind power industries are expected to participate in next year’s exposition. Another distinguishing feature of World Smart Energy Week is the numerous professional seminars. Subjects set by a committee of professional members have been appreciated by each field; manufacturers have volunteered to provide subjects for the seminar, but in order to ensure that the content of the seminar meets the participants’ needs, subjects will remain determined by the committee.