The global appeal of Melbourne's thriving clean energy sector

November 27, 2023

The Melbourne Convention Bureau (MCB) has secured the International Conference on Ocean Energy (ICOE 2024) for September 2024 - a leading global energy event to be held for the first time in the Southern Hemisphere.

ICOE 2024 will bring together ocean energy leaders, decision-makers and researchers for a rich and exciting three-day program of sessions, workshops, networking, technical site visits, virtual tours and an insight into Australasia’s rapidly evolving ocean energy activities.

This global marine energy event is expected to attract up to 1,000 delegates from across Europe, North and South America and Australasia, to share recent experiences from research and demonstration efforts in ocean energy.

The ocean energy sector has a pivotal role to play in Australia meeting its net zero target by 2050, and ICOE 2024 will bring together all the key players in the sector to meet this transformational shift.

Why Melbourne is the destination of choice for renewable energy conferences

The state's thriving renewable energy sector includes large scale R&D infrastructure, abundant natural resources and a committed energy target. Established and developing investment opportunities have also opened for innovations in renewable energy, supply chain technology and energy infrastructure.

With strong government support, boosted by a $1.6 billion energy package designed to further expand renewable energy hubs and projects, Victoria is home to:

• Abundance in the natural resources necessary for clean energy:
  Solar: Australia has the highest solar radiation per square metre of any continent in the world
  Wind: Meso-scale maps show Australia's greatest wind potential is along Victoria’s coast
  Marine: World-class marine energy is located close to supporting energy infrastructure
• Over 30 bio-energy facilities ranging in size from 110 kW up to 194 MW in capacity
• An advanced manufacturing base with everything from wind towers to solar hot water systems made locally
• Strong support for renewable energy, including Australia’s largest ever renewable energy auction, delivering 928 MW of large-scale generation capacity

Some of the state’s ongoing clean energy projects include:

• The world-first Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain (HESC) Project aims to safely produce and transport clean liquid hydrogen from Australia’s Latrobe Valley in Victoria to Kobe in Japan
• The Cooperative Research Centre for Greenhouse Gas Technologies’ Otway Project is the country’s first demonstration of the deep geological storage of carbon dioxide. The project provides technical information on geosequestration process technologies
• The Victorian Organic Solar Cell Consortium, a collaboration between industry and academia, that aims to produce prototype organic solar cells with potential to print directly onto materials such as roofing and windows
• The University of Melbourne industry partnership with Geotechnical Engineering and Direct Energy, which is piloting direct geothermal heating and cooling in around 30 buildings across the state, including residential, industrial and commercial buildings
• Hot Dry Rocks research into geothermal heat profiles at shallow depths in the Latrobe Valley in Victoria which may demonstrate the commercial potential of using moderate temperature in shallow wells to generate electricity
• The Solar Systems large-scale pilot demonstration plant in Mildura, which is the largest concentrated photovoltaic facility of its kind in Australia

Find out more about Victoria’s thriving clean energy sector

Include Melbourne in your next renewable energy conference bid opportunity

ICOE 2024, hosted by the Blue Economy CRC, was secured by MCB with support from the Victorian Government and Tourism Australia’s Business Events Bid Fund Program. The Blue Economy CRC is one of the major national institutes supporting sustainable offshore renewable energy developments.

Reach out to the Melbourne Convention Bureau team to find out more about what Melbourne is doing in the industrial development of renewable energy and how MCB can bring Team Melbourne together to successfully host your future renewable energy conference.

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