The Solar Europe Industry Initiative (SEII) that will be launched on Thursday in Madrid during the European SET Plan Conference will contribute to achieving 12% Solar Photovoltaic (PV) supply of the EU electricity demand by 2020. The European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA), the world's largest photovoltaic industry association together with the European Photovoltaic Technology Platform will present during the SET Plan Conference on 3 June in Madrid, in the framework of the Spanish EU Presidency, the Solar PV Industry Initiative. The implementation Plan 2010-2012 announces that during the coming three-year-period up to 1.2 billion euro on Research and Development (R&D) needs to be invested for optimising production aiming at cost reduction as well as improving the interface between the electricity grid and the PV systems. These are the first steps in the path to achieve in this decade competitiveness with retail electricity prices for residential and commercial sectors and in locations with high irradiation even competitiveness with conventional fossil fuels for industrial applications. The investment should reach an exact amount of 1,235 million euro of which almost 60% will be provided by the private sector whereas the remaining amount needs to be balanced out by the European Commission and EU Member States.

The EU has set itself an enormous green energy policy challenge over the next decade which will involve massive capital investment into new technologies, huge investment in grid infrastructure, as well as replacement of existing capacity as older plants reach the end of their life. But with the economy now once again in growth and thus the demand for Energy rising, will such massive change be effected as suppliers turn back to fossil fuels to meet new demands? Michael Lewis, Managing Director Europe for E-On assesses such a question and will announce his findings in his keynote at this year's illustrious NGU Summit in Bremen Germany next month. The Summit (run by GDS International) has been the home for the Utility elite for many years, and this meeting is no different with a consortium led by, Dominique Fache, Chairman, ENEL, Kevin McCollough, COO, RWE, Eddie O'Conner, CEO, Mainstream Renewable Power, and Alan Thompson, Head of Renewable Centrica.

Energy demand is increasing at an alarming rate with an average 1.3 percent growth per year, so leaders are crying out for new technology innovations to meet a spike in demand that adhere to Governmental Energy policy's. "The challenge of climate change, security of supply and the culmination of three fundamental world crises (Financial, Energy and Environmental) has led to a major shift in global government policy." said a spokesman for the NGU Consortium. "Combine this with ageing infrastructure assets in the developed world with the rise of energy hungry new economies and the stage is set". And what a stage the NGU Summit will be! Will our leaders be able to come up with sustainable solutions in time to meet demand? Is investment in new technology too late to stay Green in the short term? All eyes are on the NGU EU summit to find out.

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