RENEWABLE ENERGY CONFERENCE BRINGS US-SLOVENIAN

UNCLAS LJUBLJANA 000523

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

EEB/CBA DENNIS WINSTEAD, EEB/ESC PAUL SIMONS, EUR/NCE ERIK
HANSEN, EUR/IIP BARBARA DURANT, OES/ESTH SAM KOTIS,
DOE/EERE MARK GINSBERG

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON EINV ENRG ETRD OIIP KPAO SI
SUBJECT: RENEWABLE ENERGY CONFERENCE BRINGS US-SLOVENIAN
EXPERTS TOGETHER

REF: A. LJUBLJANA 40


B. STATE 037439


1. (U) Summary. With support from the Business Facilitation
Incentive Fund and the International Information Programs
Division, the Embassy organized a one-day Clean Energy
Innovation Conference on June 26 that emphasized the
importance of alternative energy as a strategy for economic
development, environmental stewardship and energy security.
The Government of Slovenia has stated that energy supply and
climate change will be key issues during its EU presidency in

2008. The conference brought together American and Slovenian
scientists, business people, government officials, and NGO
representatives to discuss emerging trends in alternative
energy and consider areas of mutual business interest. In
addition to U.S. government and private business speakers,
Slovenian government officials, environmental NGOs and
venture capital investors participated in the conference,
which has already led to increased business contacts between
our two countries. End Summary.

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U.S.- SLOVENIAN ENERGY OPPORTUNITIES
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2. (U) Using funds from BFIF and IIP, the Embassy brought
together American and Slovenian experts to discuss new
innovations and business opportunities in the alternative
energy sector. Ambassador Robertson opened the
Embassy-organized Clean Energy Innovation Conference June 28
and stressed the importance of alternative energy as a
strategy for economic development, environmental stewardship
and energy security. He also highlighted U.S. initiatives in
commercializing alternative energy technology and encouraged
closer cooperation between U.S. and Slovenian companies.


3. (U) The keynote speakers, Mark Ginsberg from the
Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy, Dr. Rick Schwerdtfeger and Frank Svet from
Ohio-based company EMTEC, all highlighted U.S. leadership in
developing alternative energy technologies such as
photovoltaic solar cells, wind turbines, and hydrogen fuel
cells. Ginsberg spoke about the positive impact the U.S.
Government's Alternative Energy Initiative, which provides a
22 percent increase in funding for clean energy technology
research, is having in the U.S. and the cutting edge research
the National Renewable Energy Laboratory is conducting to
bring new energy technologies to market. Schwerdtfeger and
Frank Svet presented research on viable alternative energy
sources for Slovenia. Svet identified areas in which
American and Slovenian businesses could cooperate at various
levels throughout the alternative energy supply chain. All
the American speakers stressed U.S. commitment to developing
alternative energy technologies through private-public
projects.

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SLOVENIAN ENERGY PRIORITIES
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4. (SBU) The director of the Slovenian Ministry of the
Environment's Office of Renewable Energy, Hinko Solinc,
explained that Slovenia plans to expand its use of
hydropower, biomass and solar energy in an attempt to reach
the proposed EU goal of 20 percent of energy coming from
renewable sources by 2020. Currently 11.7 percent of
Slovenia's energy is from renewable sources, mainly from
hydropower, which is higher than the EU average of 5.6
percent. Solinc explained that one reason that the GoS was
very eager to participate in the conference is that it is
concerned that Slovenia will not be able to reach the EU's 20
percent target unless new technologies are utilized.
Slovenia's sole nuclear plant, near the town of Krsko,
provides about 30 percent of the nation's electricity.
Slovenia would like to build another nuclear plant but it is
unclear whether the European Commission would support nuclear
energy as a clean energy source. Djordje Zebeljan, director
of research and development at Slovenia's state-owned energy
consortium Holdings Slovenske Elektrarne, focused on
opportunities for solar, biomass and hydrogen technologies,
since these technologies have yet to gain a foothold in
Slovenia. Wind turbines, although popular with the
government, are unpopular with environmentalists in Slovenia
because of the size, noise and effect on birdlife.

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COMMERCIAL OUTCOMES
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5. (U) The conference provided a forum for U.S. and Slovenian

business people to cultivate import/export opportunities as
well as allow the Embassy to advance U.S. goals for
addressing energy development. All participants particularly
welcomed involvement of the venture capital panelists from
Poteza and Istrabenz Gorenje. The participation of the
business people brought a working-level element to the topic
for the first time in Slovenia. The conference also received
positive media attention. Ginsberg gave an interview to
Delo, Slovenia's largest daily newspaper with a readership of
over 200,000 people. Svet gave interviews to TV Slovenia and
energy journal Energetika, which ran in Slovenia, Bulgaria
and the UK.


6. (U) The conference has already produced several promising
commercial links between Slovenian and U.S. companies. Svet
said that his company EMTEC established several strong
connections between Slovenian companies and Ohio-based
companies and research institutions. Slovenian solar energy
company Soncna Energija made contact with an American company
that needs a parabolic capacitor, a technology Energija works
on. An Ohio-based solar cell producer contacted Slovenia
component producer Bisol. An Ohio fuel cell company is
negotiating with the Institute of Chemistry regarding
cooperatively developing next generation fuel cells. EMTEC
will work with The University of Ljubljana's Faculty of
Engineering to find an American business person to speak at
an international energy conference in 2008. The Jozef Stefan
Institute and several Ohio universities plan to establish a
postgraduate student exchange program.

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NEXT STEPS
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7. (U) In conversations with conference participants and
other business contacts, scientists and government officials,
all agreed that Slovenia lacks a clear policy of intellectual
property rights and licensing agreements -- a necessary
element to commercializing innovative alternative energy
technologies. Participants in the conference expressed a
strong desire to discuss ways to establish equitable
agreements with businesses, governments and research
institutions to protect intellectual property rights. They
suggested that a U.S. expert would be very helpful since
Slovenia does not have any local successes in this area and
the U.S. has been successfully working on promoting
innovation through strong IPR and licensing agreements for
several decades. The Slovenian Intellectual Property Office,
which has sent three senior officials to training programs
with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, is eager to work
with post to coordinate a roundtable to discuss developing an
IPR framework that stimulates innovation and
entrepreneurship. The Embassy thanks BFIF and IIP for
supporting our conference and helping us explore business
opportunities in the alternative energy sector in Slovenia.

ROBERTSON