Day one of POWER-GEN Europe and Renewable Energy World Europe, the leading conference and exhibition for the international power and renewable industries, lived up to expectation with an impressive showcase of technological innovation and inspiring debates from industry leaders.

The inaugural day of the show saw over 12,000 visitors attend the MiCo Milano Congressi in Milan, Italy to experience the latest thinking from some of the power industrys key decision makers. The conference commenced with a welcome address from International Conference Director, Nigel Blackaby. Mr Blackaby described electricity as "the bedrock of our society" and invited visitors to use the three-day show to share experiences, develop winning strategies and discover new business opportunities.

The opening keynote came from Enrico Viale, Head of Global Generation, Enel Group, who examined the business case for the energy transition, stating that companies "cannot afford to separate sustainability from profitability". Giuseppe Bergeio, CEO of IREN Energia, followed with insight from a smaller Italian generator. The final address by Robert Guest, Foreign Editor for The Economist, provided a global perspective of the energy industry and considered the implications of Brexit, terrorist policies in Nigeria and the US presidential election.

Another highlight of day one was the highly anticipated Joint Plenary Discussion. The lively session featured a line-up of companies facing the challenge and opportunity of the energy transition in Europe, including ANIE Federazione, Ansaldo Energia, Sorgenia SpA, GE, Siemens AG and MEDREG Association. The panel debated the implications of de-carbonisation post-COP21, the development of energy storage and the speed of the energy transition. The experts agreed that while large strides have been made towards Europes energy targets, care needs to be taken to ensure the right thinking, regulation and innovation is available to support the transition.

Alongside the conference programme, 450 exhibitors showcased their innovations across the 54,000 sq/m exhibition floor.

"This years Joint Opening Keynote saw three inspiring thinkers come together to share a detailed analysis of the Italian power market, a global perspective of the energy landscape and their projections for the future," said Mr Blackaby. "It was fantastic to see such a packed out hall. The Plenary Joint Discussion was also a wonderful opportunity to drill down into the hurdles facing the Italian power industry - and understand how they are approaching this challenge. I am looking forward to seeing these discussions unpicked further over the next two days."

There are two further days POWER-GEN Europe and Renewable Energy World Europes conference and exhibition. Wednesday brings the first day of conference sessions for delegates, as well as many exciting discussions in the free-to-attend Presentation Theatre. MedReg, the association of Mediterranean energy regulators, is hosting a roundtable from 9:30am, followed by a session on doing business in Germany, Iran, Kazakhstan, South Africa and South Korea, an Innovation Hour and finally an Italian seminar from ANIE, the Italian Association of Electrotechnical and Electronics Industries.

Theres still time to attend and be a part of the event. You can register in the reception area of the MiCo Milano or online.