Advancing the energy transition and empowering the future workforce: Insights from ADIPEC 2024

Following ADIPEC 2024, and as we head towards the end of the year, I’ve been reflecting on our experience as an organisation at this year’s event. 

ADIPEC is the world’s largest energy conference and exhibition with a record breaking 205,000 attendees from more than 170 countries. Beyond its sheer scale, there is no doubt in my mind that the impact of the event is unparalleled. For the OPITO team it was an event that stood out for its engagement – on every level. From high-level discussions with partners, speaking and exhibiting, to interaction with the next generation of the energy workforce at the Young ADIPEC Zone, it was incredibly encouraging to witness the enthusiasm behind the sector and our collective ambition to achieve safe, secure and sustainable energy. 

Our focus on engagement with young people, as well as driving the STEM agenda, was a pivotal part of our ADIPEC presence in 2024. Once again, the Young ADIPEC Zone was sponsored by My Energy Future, powered by OPITO.  As an interactive area designed to inspire, it was the perfect venue to launch our new virtual reality (VR) experience, showcasing the energy mix through a variety of traditional, clean and renewable energy sources. It proved very popular, providing people of all ages with the chance to try out a truly immersive experience and demonstrate the art of the possible when it comes to the future of safety and skills training. You can view the video from our STEM activities at ADIPEC here.

As proud supporters of global STEM initiatives, we also sponsored the Methane Abatement Challenge – an opportunity for high school students across the UAE to showcase their innovative ideas to reduce methane emissions, empowering them to actively participate in climate action and contribute to a sustainable future. We were blown away by the level of skills demonstrated, the attitude of the participants, and the pride in their energy heritage.

What is very evident is the real interest in careers in energy. It’s not surprising – the region is owning its industry experience and is using its skills and resources to drive transformational new energy projects in solar, nuclear, carbon capture and green hydrogen and more. In parallel, regional players like ADNOC are investing in a young workforce, its development, training and technology, creating sustainable organisations and using the energy resources of today to enable the energy capabilities of tomorrow. This is viewed as a continuation, a natural step. 

Excitingly, technology and digitalisation featured heavily across discourse and exhibition stands, from artificial intelligence (AI) to VR, augmented reality (AR) and robotics - highlighting the pace of development as a challenge to current and future workforces. The training, safety and skills sphere is continuously evolving. Where there are challenges, there are opportunities. ADIPEC provided us with the scope to discuss and exchange knowledge on this and a host of areas around future energy skills with a diverse audience, not least our network of OPITO-approved training centres. 

The Middle East and Africa regions continue to be major areas of growth for global energy projects and OPITO is playing its role in ensuring the global workforce are safe and competent. With our Dubai office celebrating its 15th year in operation, it was brilliant to welcome colleagues representing our growing global footprint to the Middle East and UAE. 

I’m confident that I speak for the entire team when I say our experience of ADIPEC 2024 has not only reinforced its importance in the global event calendar, but the criticality of the region as a whole to the international energy sector. 2025 will see a further strengthening of OPITO’s regional hubs, the return of our OPITO Global conference in Abu Dhabi – with dates set to be announced soon - as well as discussions about our involvement in Young ADIPEC next year. Hope to see you all there!