VZCZCXYZ0001
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHLJ #0523/01 2261519
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 141519Z AUG 07
FM AMEMBASSY LJUBLJANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6038
INFO RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RHMCSUU/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC

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. 
 
------------------------------------ 
U.S.- SLOVENIAN ENERGY OPPORTUNITIES 
------------------------------------ 
 ¶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. 
 
--------------------------- 
SLOVENIAN ENERGY PRIORITIES 
--------------------------- 
¶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