March 30 – April 2, 2009

in Berlin, Germany

Germany and the USA are ideal partners on the path to a secure and sustainable energy future says Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Germany’s Foreign Minister and patron of the 1st German-American Energy Conference in Berlin. This four-day event provided around 500 experts from the industrial and political arenas from both sides of the Atlantic with information on current trends on the US energy market, with a special focus on renewables. The speakers included German Economics Minister Dr Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel, the State Secretary of the German Foreign Office Peter Ammon and John M. Koenig, Chargé d’Affaires ad interim of the United States Embassy in Germany. The conference was organized by the Deutsche Energie-Agentur GmbH (dena) - the German Energy Agency - and the German American Chambers of Commerce (GACC).

“Only if we push ahead with energy efficiency and renewable energies on a transatlantic basis can we also convince other countries of the merits of sustainable growth. This is why we need a Transatlantic Climate Bridge,” stressed Steinmeier. “Scarce fossil resources and climate change are global challenges affecting both our security and our quality of life. They can only be overcome in international cooperation. Germany and the USA have the abilities needed to stimulate innovation here.”

Clean, efficient energy technologies are booming in the USA under President Barack Obama, and the contribution of renewables sources to the energy supply is to be doubled within the next three years. “This offers German companies outstanding export opportunities,” said dena’s Executive Director Stephan Kohler, “standing as they do at the forefront of the renewables market in many areas.”

However, collecting information on entry to the promising US market is not always easy, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises. It is here that GACC’s competent network comes in. “The German American Chambers of Commerce offer a wide range of programmes and events and a valuable network which help German companies to understand the peculiarities of the market and to operate there successfully,” stated Kristian Wolf, CEO of GACC South.

The 1st German-American Energy Conference had been placed under the patronage of the Transatlantic Climate Bridge built by the German Foreign Office. It was co-organized by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi) with its Renewable Energy Export Initiative, Germany Trade and Invest, the Federation of German Industries (BDI) and the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK). The Conference was partnered by the German BioEnergy Association (BB), the German Solar Industry Association (BSW), the Federal Wind Energy Association (BWE), Berlin Partner, the German Engineering Federation (VDMA) and the American Chamber of Commerce in Germany (AmCham). Its premium sponsor was SolarWorld AG and its media partner the trade publication Energie & Management.

For further information on the 1st German-American Energy Conference, please visit www.gae-conference.com