A
tripartite “historical” meeting among the heads of government of Greece, Cyprus
and Jordan in Nicosia on January 16 strengthened relations between the three
countries and paved the way for political and economic cooperation, including
energy.
“The
greatest benefit of the Cyprus-Greece-Jordan tripartite meeting in Nicosia is
political,” Cyprus Natural Hydrocarbons Company CEO Charles Ellinas told New
Europe on January 19. “The meeting reaffirmed the excellent relations and
friendship between the three countries and laid the foundations for strategic
and regional cooperation for political and economic benefits. They signed three
agreements for co-operation: in renewable energy, protection of cultural
heritage and seafaring,” he added.
Greek Prime
Minister Alexis Tsipras, Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and Jordan’s King
Abdullah II discussed tripartite relations and regional developments. “With
President Anastasiades and King Abdullah we also agreed to extend our
trilateral cooperation in fields of common interest,” Tsipras said. “In the
fields of Renewable Energy Sources, handling water reserves, the field of
agriculture, aquaculture, tourism, merchant shipping, protection of antiquities
and health,” he added.
“We also
signed today a Memorandum of Understanding for Renewable Energy Sources, which
sets the bases and directions for our countries’ cooperation in this field,”
the Greek Premier said.
Cyprus
Energy Minister Yiorgos Lakkotrypis told a press conference after the
tripartite meeting that the agreement signed on energy concerns mainly
renewable energy sources and the intention of the three countries to exchange
know-how to promote this area, IBNA reported.
“Of course,
we also discussed with our colleagues, both the Greek and the Jordan, the
issues of hydrocarbons and some ideas that we have agreed to discuss further
either in Athens or in Amman,” the news agency quoted Lakkotrypis as saying.
SolarPower
Europe CEO James Watson noted that Greece, Cyprus and Jordan’s solar energy
sector has big potential. “We see a steady increase in public-private
partnerships on renewable energy across Europe and the world. If the trilateral
agreement between Greece, Jordan and Cyprus can boost solar installations in
these sunbathed countries, it can be a positive development for the clean
energy transition,” Watson told New Europe.
Meanwhile,
MEDREG Secretary General Fabio Tambone hailed the strengthening of energy ties
among Cyprus, Greece and Jordan. “We believe that the Memorandum of
Understanding on renewable energy sources signed by the three countries will
help to reinforce the role regulators play in order to ensure that new
investments in RES-generated capacity are remunerated in a way that is
economically sustainable,” Tambone told New Europe, commenting on this MoU and
Declaration. “Regulators are also key to govern the fair integration of
RES-generated electricity in the grid, accompanying the substantial
technological changes that take place in the RES sector. The regulators of the
three countries involved (CERA, RAE and EMRC) are among the most active members
of our Association, so we look forward to better understanding the regulatory
implications of this reinforced cooperation,” the MEDREG Secretary General
said.
Ellinas
noted that the main benefit of this and the other tripartite meetings with
Egypt, Israel and Lebanon is the promotion of security, peace and prosperity in
the East Med region. “This is good for the countries but also for Europe, with
Cyprus and Greece acting as a bridge between these countries and Europe,” he
said.
“Good
relations also aid the development of hydrocarbons from the political
viewpoint, by facilitating any required inter-governmental agreements, but not
the commercial,” Ellinas said, adding that Cyprus and Israel are stuck in terms
of exports because of the low global gas prices. Egypt is forging ahead, and
spearheaded by the development of the giant ENI-operated Zohr offshore field it
relies completely on its own resources, he concluded.
https://www.neweurope.eu/article/greece-cyprus-jordan-heads-state-agree-renewable-energy-package/