Record attendance at the Lisbon Energy Summit, supported by the Ministry of Environment and Energy

29 May 2024

The Lisbon Energy Summit & Exhibition 2024 brought together more than 915 companies, 500 delegates, and 2500 exhibition visitors from 48 countries. Over the three days, it hosted three conferences including the Strategic Conference, Hydrogen & Decarbonisation Conference, and the Climatetech Conference, with a Ministerial Address and 43 panel discussions and presentations, delivered by 190 speakers.

The Lisbon Energy Summit & Exhibition will return to Portugal from 2-4 June 2025.

Quotes from the event:

“We are launching today the renewable gases auction that aims to inject 140 million euros over 10 years, financed by the Environmental Fund, to compensate for price fluctuations in green hydrogen and biomethane projects in important decarbonisation projects to improve the circular economy.”

H.E. Maria da Graça Carvalho, Minister of Environment and Energy, Republic of Portugal

“In fact it looks like Portugal might actually hit the target of 80% renewables in electricity generation ahead of the 2030 deadline, which is a huge achievement.”

Joseph McMonigle, Secretary General, International Energy Forum

“The change is coming and all of us need to be ready.” “At these summits where we exchange ideas and business cards, it important for us to come up policy solutions.”

Robert Nisbet, Former BBC & Sky News Correspondent and Partner, 5654 & Company

Highlights from the Event

Her Excellency Maria da Graça Carvalho announced the launch of an auction for the centralised purchase of hydrogen and biomethane, worth 140 million euros over 10 years, in her Ministerial Address to delegates in Lisbon.

Followed by Willie Philips, Chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which works to deliver reliable, safe secure, and economically efficient energy services at a reasonable cost to American consumers, on his speech put the scale of the transition in perspective with an eye-opening statistic: demand for electricity in the US is expected to soar by 27% by 2050. It added a sense of urgency to the discussions to follow.

Themes that emerged

· The importance of implementation once policy has been enacted.

· Why governments and regulators need to be flexible and pragmatic when it comes to the energy mix.

· ‘Debottlenecking': removing the barriers to the energy transition, such as delays in permitting and cutting long connection queues.

· The need to invest, both in upskilling and supporting research and development.

· A cooperative approach to the energy transition is key, especially between governments, regulators and the private sector.

· A joined up approach across each country’s governments, so policies across departments supports transitions (on subjects such as critical mineral access).

· Guarding against consumer energy costs to pay for new technologies which could turn people against net zero ambitions.

· Making sure people understand the importance of the transition and new technologies to limit ’nimbyism’.

· The best way to create markets and the push and pull factors required to drive innovation.

· Certainty is vital to attract investment, so governments need to build clear pathways.

As the days continued, more crucial themes to the energy transition emerged.

Joseph McMonigle from the IEF reminded attendees that hydrocarbons are still needed to satisfy global energy demand, with China rising an extra 800k barrels of oil a day last year. He reminded the delegates that renewable energy must be a growing part of the mix, but the transition must be handled carefully so consumers don’t see big increases in their energy costs which could dent support for net zero strategies.

The Swedish Ambassador to Portugal, Her Excellency Elisabeth Eklund, delivered an Opening Address, where she called Sweden a pioneer in renewables, with a commitment to entirely stripping carbon from the grid by 2040.

The panel sessions in the main conference hall covered a lot of ground, focusing on hydrogen and the H2Med project, how best to decarbonise heavy industry and transport systems, and finishing with a discussion on the role of natural gas.

In summary, some key themes covered at the Summit included:

· Flexibility and pragmatism is needed by governments, regulators and industry.

· Everyone involved in energy should prioritise ‘progress over perfection.

· There is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ or fixed template to drive the energy transition.

· Hydrocarbons will still have a role to play as the energy mix increases.

· We need to invest in people: their skills and their ideas.

· The political driver behind the transition is now less about net zero targets and more focused on energy independence and security.

· The right policy and regulatory frameworks are needed to encourage innovation and develop markets in new energy sources and technologies.

· We need to pool our insights and use data to implement the changes needed.

· Digitalisation is also going to help deliver the smart grids and smart cities which play a crucial role.

· Money will be needed to fuel the transition - we have to be creative about financing with the right incentives, public and private partnerships may provide one solution but investors are looking for simple decluttered projects.

· Finally change is coming and we need to be ready!

The Lisbon Energy Summit & Exhibition is the leading platform for trusted insights, expertise, and analysis supporting the global LNG, gas, and energy value chain in the region. The second edition convened global energy leaders, including 200+ speakers from 90+ countries in three days of conference sessions, networking events, and a global exhibition of the latest innovations.

New event features include the Climatetech Conference, an expanded Hydrogen & Decarbonisation Zone, which includes the Hydrogen & Decarbonisation Conference hosted by Galp, the Innovation Zone and the Solar Zone, offering a unique platform for new technologies to showcase, debate, give interviews, and hear panel discussions designed to tackle the biggest questions facing the industry, built on a tried and tested audience participation tool and app allowing participants to interact with the speakers, and ask the questions that matter most to them.

About the Lisbon Energy Summit & Exhibition 2024 

The second edition of the event took place from 27-29 May 2024 at the FIL – Lisbon Exhibition and Congress Centre in Lisbon, Portugal. Download the 2024 conference brochure here. For more information, please visit the website lisbonenergysummit.com. Follow us on our social media channels and use #LisbonEnergySummit and #LESummit for the latest event news.

About dmg events

Headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates since 1989, with offices in Canada, Egypt, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand and the United Kingdom, dmg events is an international exhibitions, conference and intelligence company, attracting more than 1 million attendees to a portfolio of over 80 events each year. This global portfolio works closely with key stakeholders across the industry to facilitate pragmatic dialogue, serving as platforms for the latest discussions at the forefront of change. For more information visit www.dmgevents.com. Click here to read our privacy policy. 

For more information, please contact: Alexis Efstathiou | Head of Marketing | dmg events | marketing@lisbonenergysummit.com or visit the website here. 

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