WELCOME TO THE 2006 EURELECTRIC ANNUAL CONFERENCE

The coming decades will be dominated by the challenge of developing an energy-efficient, low-carbon, energy secure and competitive economy, which will require forward-looking, ambitious, but also realistic and coherent action. Electricity plays a pivotal role in bridging the gap between energy requirements and sustainable development. It is the driver and medium for achieving higher standards of living and working conditions throughout the world; reducing external fuel dependency; providing cost-effective electro-technological solutions to the challenges of climate change; and promoting an energy-efficient, competitive and secure economy.

Where better to hold a conference on the Role and Benefits of Electricity to Society than the city of Oslo, which meets 66% of its energy needs by electricity? The city itself is a major electricity producer, owning facilities in several parts of Norway, including a small 100-year-old plant, Hammeren, at the edge of the Nordmarka forest. Because so much of the energy it uses comes from clean and sustainable sources, Oslo boasts one of the lowest per capita greenhouse gas emissions ratios among European cities. The high proportion of electricity and district heating in the energy mix also results in better local air quality.

On 12-13 June, in this green and energy-efficient city, the Union of the Electricity Industry- EURELECTRIC, with the kind support of our hosts, Norwegian national energy association EBL, set out to give policymakers, stakeholders and the public at large a vision of the key role that electricity can play in furthering economic progress and social development, harnessing technological innovation and promoting environmental protection goals.

The event opened with an Executive Forum on the theme of Market Development: Where Do We Stand?, which looked at the integration of European wholesale markets towards the ultimate goal of the liberalisation process - a pan-European energy market. At the close of the session, EURELECTRIC unveiled a Declaration setting out our current key energy policy priorities in the light of the three major challenges of security of supply, market development and climate-change action.

The following one-and-a-half days were then devoted to presentations and lively debate focussing on:

• The End User and the Role of Electricity
• Technology and the Role of Electricity
• Policy-making and the Role of Electricity

You will find on this site full highlights summarising the themes, views and suggestions put forward during the various sessions of the Oslo Conference. We hope you will find them useful and informative.