In addition to Greek Minister of Environment and Energy, Costas Skrekas, the Minister of Infrastructure and Energy of Albania, Belinda Balluku, the Minister of Energy of Bulgaria, Rosen Hristov, the Minister of Energy of Romania, Virgil-Daniel Popescu, the Minister of Economy of Kosovo, Artane Rizvanolli, and the Minister of Green Transition of Italy, Gilberto Pichetto Fratin (via teleconference), participated in the Round Table discussion held at the premises of the IENE National Conference.
The purpose of the Ministerial Dialogue was to deepen the cooperation between the participants to achieve energy security of the wider region and find ways to jointly deal with the energy crisis. At the same time, particular emphasis was placed on the prospects of ensuring supply sufficiency and promoting green energy in the energy mix.
A panel discussion of the Ministers took place within the framework of the annual 26th "Energy & Development 2022" Conference, which was welcomed by the Chairman and Executive Director of IENE, Mr. Costis Stambolis, and moderated by the journalist and Foreign Press Correspondent, John Psaropoulos.
In his statement, the Minister of Environment and Energy, Mr. Kostas Skrekas, stated, among other things, that the pursuit of the goal of energy security complements the policies of the Green Transition and does not contradict them. He also spoke about the achievements of Greece in the issues of integrating RES in the energy mix and underlined that our country is now in the top positions of the world ranking regarding the greatest progress in the production of electricity from RES, as well as in the renewable energy investment attractiveness index relative to GDP.
He also spoke about the electricity grids, natural gas and LNG infrastructures as well as the policies implemented to save energy, which he characterized as pivotal in the path towards Energy Transition, while he pointed out that in a few years from today the country will become a net energy exporter. Finally, he argued that Greece not only did not lag in the matter of investigations to identify hydrocarbons, but on the contrary, accelerated them.
For their part, the Ministers from Albania, Bulgaria, Romania and Kosovo who participated in the panel highlighted the energy policy priorities they implement in their countries, highlighting the problems created by the reduction in the supply of Russian natural gas and the climate change. They did not fail, however, to emphasize the advantages and possibilities opened up for their energy systems by the pursuit of "green" policies.
The position of the Minister of Energy of Romania, Virgil-Daniel Popescu, stood out, who spoke about the ambitious goals that his country has set in the matter of RES and nuclear energy and emphasized that Romania's energy mix is dominated by 40% RES and 20 % nuclear.
Also, Albania's Minister of Infrastructure and Energy, Belinda Balluku, pointed to her country's heavy reliance on hydropower and highlighted the problems created by the drought that lasted for more than nine months.
The ministers did not fail to emphasize that they are in favour of imposing a ceiling on the wholesale prices of natural gas, although they emphasized that they are not particularly optimistic about the adoption of the relevant proposal by the European Commission.
The 26th National Conference "Energy & Development 2022" of IENE opened with the opening speech of the President and Executive Director of the Institute, Mr. Costis Stambolis, who highlighted the importance of the conference for the energy matters of Greece and the countries of SE Europe and pointed out the need for closer cooperation and coordination between the various countries at the level of the European Union, with a particular focus on the SE Europe region.
Mr. Stambolis was succeeded on the stage by the Secretary General for Energy and Minerals Resources, Ms. Alexandra Sdoukou, who referred extensively to the entire spectrum of the Ministry's policies and the plans to upgrade and expand the electrical networks and natural gas infrastructure, as well as the actions and initiatives that have been undertaken and implemented in energy saving, which are of key importance on the way to the Energy Transition.
The 26th "Energy & Development" continued with the introductory speeches of the President of RAE, Dr. Athanasios Dagoumas, the President and CEO of DAPEEP, Mr. Yiannis Jarentis, Mr. Giorgos Polychroniou, Coordinator of Strategic & Development Activities of DEPA and Mr. Dimitris Tsitouridis, Country Coordinator for Greece of DG Energy from Brussels (via teleconference).
The two-day National Conference of IENE is under the auspices of the Ministry of Environment and Energy and the Regulatory Authority for Energy (RAE) and is held at the Divani Caravel Hotel, in Athens.
The main sponsors of the Conference are the law firm KG Law, More Energy, EDEYEP, DEPA, DEDDIE and TERNA Energy, while the supporters include the companies ENERGEAN, DESFA, Elpedison, NANKO Renewables, Mytilineos and Copelouzos Group. Also, Action Supporters include Sunlight Group and IPTO, while Media Sponsors are Energia.gr, NE Global, Foreign Affairs, Naftemporiki and EnergyPress.