Text: U.S. Agency Hosts European, Eurasian Energy Sector Officials

(Orientation for representatives of district energy/combined heat and
power sector) (570)


Business executives and government officials from Europe and Eurasia
will visit the United States June 21-27 to learn more about combined
systems for producing heat and electricity.


Fourteen representatives from Romania, Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, and
Bosnia-Herzegovina will attend the annual conference of the
International District Energy Association. They also will tour several
sites around Baltimore, Maryland including a chilling plant, a primary
steam plant, and a waste-to-energy facility.


Following is a press release from the U.S. Trade and Development
Agency (TDA), which is sponsoring the visit:


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U.S. Trade and Development Agency

www.tda.gov



USTDA SPONSORS ORIENTATION VISIT FOR EUROPEAN AND EURASIAN DISTRICT
ENERGY/COMBINED HEAT AND POWER SECTOR OFFICIALS


ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA - (June 19, 2003) The U.S. Trade and Development
Agency (USTDA) is sponsoring an orientation visit to the United States
for business executives and public sector officials in the district
energy/combined heat and power sector in Eurasia and Eastern Europe.
The visit will take place June 21-27, 2003. The delegation is
comprised of 14 people from Romania, Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, and
Bosnia-Herzegovina. During their visit, the delegates will travel to
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where they will attend the International
District Energy Association's (IDEA) 94th Annual Conference from June
22-25, 2003. The delegates will also participate in site visits to
several facilities in Baltimore, Maryland.


The visit is timely, as many Eurasian and Southeast European utilities
are undergoing restructuring, privatization, and making upgrades to
old equipment. USTDA's goal in sponsoring the visit is to introduce
the delegates to U.S. equipment and technology.


A business briefing is planned for U.S. companies interested in
investigating opportunities in this sector, and will be held at the
IDEA conference on Monday, June 23. Nine presentations are scheduled
on projects in the district energy/combined heat and power sector in
the five countries. The group will also meet with Representative Curt
Weldon, who will deliver opening remarks at the conference.


While in the United States, the delegates will participate in site
visits organized by IDEA, including the University of Pennsylvania's
chilling plant, and the Gray's Ferry Cogeneration Facility. During the
group's visit to Baltimore, they will tour the primary steam plant of
TRIGEN Baltimore; Comfort Link, which owns and operates three cooling
facilities in the Baltimore area; and the Baltimore Refuse Energy
Systems Company (BRESCO) waste-to-energy facility.


For more information on the visit or the business briefing, please see
www.district-energy-chp-ov.com, or contact Olympia Brescia at (781)
641-2900. Business briefing attendees must be registered for the IDEA
conference. For more information on the conference, please contact
IDEA at (508) 366-9339 or see www.districtenergy.org.


The U.S. Trade and Development Agency advances economic development
and U.S. commercial interests in developing and middle-income
countries. The agency funds various forms of technical assistance,
feasibility studies, training, orientation visits and business
workshops that support the development of a modern infrastructure and
a fair and open trading environment. USTDA's strategic use of foreign
assistance funds to support sound investment policy and
decision-making in host countries creates an enabling environment for
trade, investment and sustainable economic development. In carrying
out its mission, USTDA gives emphasis to economic sectors that may
benefit from U.S. exports of goods and services.


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Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)