Conference Theme: Accelerating Clean Energy Innovation: From Africa to the World

The 8th RD20 Conference will be hosted by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Pretoria, South Africa, and will be held in a hybrid format with both in-person and online participation.
Dates: 19–23 October 2026
Venue: CSIR, Pretoria, South Africa
Format: Hybrid (In-person and Online)

Focus Areas

Technical Sessions
･ Innovative Solutions for Energy Access
Discussion on research, development, and challenges in delivering sustainable and reliable energy services.
･ Synthetic Fuels
Discussion on production technologies for synthetic fuels and R&D challenges toward their practical deployment.
･ Critical Minerals for Energy
Production, utilization, and recycling of critical minerals essential for the energy transition.

Workshops (Invited members only)
･ AI for Energy
･ Clean Hydrogen and Its Derivatives

Why Attend?

･ Connect with leaders from the world’s leading research and development organizations driving clean energy innovation.
･ Explore Africa’s rapidly evolving clean energy ecosystem, including policy developments, R&D initiatives, and emerging collaboration opportunities.
･ Gain insights into the latest advances in clean energy technologies and international collaborative research.

Program

Monday, October 19 (Invited members only)
Workshop #1: AI for Energy: An extended session building on the discussion from the WS held in Korea in April
Tuesday, October 20 (Open to the public)
Technical Session (TS) Plenary: High level talk on clean energy technologies
Technical Session TS #1: Energy Access
Technical Session TS #2: Synthetic Fuels
Wednesday, October 21
Technical Session TS #3: Critical Minerals for Energy (Open to the public)
Workshop #2: Clean Hydrogen and its derivatives (Invited members only)
Thursday, October 22
Leaders Session (Morning: Open to the public / Afternoon: Invited members only)
Friday, October 23 (Invited members only)
Site Visit Tour

Registration

Registration for the 8th RD20 Conference is now open.
Click Here to Register

Tentative Program (As of August 4)

Organizer (tentative):
Council for Science and Industrial Research (CSIR), South Africa

Co-organizers (tentative):
Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI), South Africa
National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Japan
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Japan
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), Japan
Ministry of the Environment (MOE), Japan
New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), Japan