September 2004 saw the first SPOK conference take place in Nottingham. The aim was to bring together industrial suppliers from a wide range of disciplines as well as end users who are involved daily with the issues of design, maintenance and support of standby power systems in real life situations.

The conference was opened by David Porter, the Chief Executive of the Association of Electricity Producers (AEP). He explained how the electricity producers in the UK will provide power as we move forward and aging power stations start to close.

Other papers covered an interesting range of development and design topics from key manufacturers as well as case studies from major users of standby power, their problems and their solutions. The conference also brought to the attention of the audience the more pressing environmental issues of electricity generation in the future, some of the expected shortfalls in availability and the alternative technologies which are available now and those in the pipeline.

The conference was closed by Tony Marmont of West Beacon Farm. He discussed the effects of the continued use of fossil fuels and what alternatives the future holds. Tony has spent many years working with alternative generating technology working closely with Loughborough, De Montfort and Nottingham universities.

Alongside the conference was a small exhibition which was well supported by both suppliers and end users alike.

Many of the attendees expressed a desire to get more involved in making next years event even more successful. The event will be held in Manchester, September 26th and 27th, 2005. We look forward to seeing you all there.

To See the agenda from SPOK1 (2004) [click here]

To see more images from the conference [click here].