The 2025 C&I Energy and Storage Summit (https://Energy-StorageSummit.com/), co-located with the EIUG Conference and Water Security Africa, opened with calls for collaboration and innovation at a critical time for South Africa's industry.

Keynotes covered South Africa's energy transition, water loss figures, private investment and cross-sector use of the circular economy for resilience. Talks on systemic challenges, global links and risk-mitigation strategies gave attendees plenty to consider on day one of the two-day event.

The summit brought together over 60 senior speakers and delegates from energy, water, infrastructure and utility sectors to drive change by integrating energy and water resilience in commercial and industrial settings, and tackle South Africa's resource, regulatory and infrastructure issues.

MAIN DISCUSSION POINTS:

• Integrated resource planning: need to merge energy and water strategy, policy and operations
• The circular economy: waste, energy and water as a nexus for competitiveness and growth
• Sustainability and affordability: boosting energy availability, decarbonisation and cost cuts across sectors
• Grid and infrastructure modernisation: bottlenecks, new investment and market reforms
• Resilience and risk: adaptive strategies for extreme weather, climate pressures and supply disruptions
• Public-private and inter-stakeholder collaboration: vital for scaling solutions, financial innovation and long-term supply
• Action on non-revenue water: over 50% losses at municipal level and push for efficiency gains

With emphasis on practical outcomes, delegates were urged to prioritise cross-sector collaboration on water, energy and waste challenges rather than tackling them separately.

Speakers stressed that circular economy principles in industrial and municipal operations would improve competitiveness and resource efficiency. This, along with new financial tools and public-private partnerships to fund infrastructure and resilience projects, plus integrating water and energy risks into business strategies, would build resource security.

Innovative technologies and local partnerships were highlighted as ways to cut non-revenue water, increase renewable uptake and secure supply – especially with adaptive strategies needed for extreme weather and regulatory changes.

As the opening session ended, the stage was set for two days of connections and strategies essential to the region's industrial and infrastructure future.