The Institute of Energy for South East Europe (IENE) welcomes the successful completion of the first phase of the «open-door» licensing round for hydrocarbon research in Western Greece. On July 2nd participating companies in the “open door” licensing round submitted their bids to the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change , which, among others is in charge of the country’s hydrocarbon sector. As it has been more than 15 years since Greece has undertaken any hydrocarbon research, the announcement by the Ministry that the first phase was completed on time and that several companies actually submitted bids for all three concession areas, can only be regarded as a step forward and an essential move in the restart of an effort towards the exploitation of the country’s hydrocarbon potential (See IENE’s SE Energy Market Watch No. 63 for detailed information on the licens ing round and the submitted bids )
IENE has just issued its first “Research Note” on “The Caspian Basin-the Success Story of Azerbaijan: Present Situation and Future Perspectives in the Oil and Gas Exploration”, by Ms. Marika Karayianni, an IENE external Research Associate and a Caspian Energy Expert at the Demokriteion University of Thrace, Dpt of History, Language and Civilization of the Black Sea countries). Ms. Karayianni is a lawyer and a political scientist specialized in European and international energy issues, particularly on Russia, the Caspian and Central Asia
The challenges, investment opportunities and the necessary changes across the entire energy spectrum were the main topics of the “6th South East Europe Energy Dialogue” (“6th SEEED”), that the Institute of Energy for South East Europe (IENE) organized, in cooperation the World Energy Council, in Thessaloniki on May, 30 and 31, 2012. More than 100 delegates participated in this international IENE event that, this year, focused on “Redefining SE Europe’s Energy Map”
IENE’s two-day International Workshop on «Hydrocarbon Exploration and Production in the East Mediterranean and the Adriatic Sea», which was held recently (26-27 April, 2012) in Athens, turned out to be an important gathering of hydrocarbon experts, professionals, academics and decision makers of the region. More than 60 participants had the opportunity to exchange information and ideas on the latest developments and future prospects of the hydrocarbon sector of the respective countries
On March 16th the Brussels based Building Performance Institute of Europe (BPIE) organized a roundtable meeting in the Romanian capital on the “Financing Energy Efficiency in Romanian buildings by using EU Structural Funds”. BPIE had invited IENE to participate in this unique and highly topical seminar by presenting Greece’s experience with EU backed energy efficiency programmes
A total of 18 speakers and panelists participated in a workshop organized by IENE in cooperation with the Energy Agency of the Republic of Serbia (AERS) , at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, in Belgrade , on March 7, 2012 . The workshop’s main themes focused on electricity and gas market operation but also covered few other subjects including Renewable Energy Sources (RES), energy efficiency and energy infrastructure investments. This unique event attracted professionals and experts from different countries of the West Balkans, a region of immense importance from a geopolitical viewpoint
The Institute of Energy for SE Europe (IENE) has just completed an important assessment of “Project Helios”, which is heavily promoted by the Greek government as a means of generating huge amounts of solar photovoltaic energy in sunny Greece with the view of exporting it to northern Europe. IENE’s study entitled “Project Helios: Can Solar Energy be Exported?” analyses in detail the project as it has been put forward by the Greek Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change (YPEKA), by identifying and studying all key economic and technical parameters
The ITGI gas pipeline contributes decisively to the diversification of energy supplies that is so much necessary for Europe and which the EU seeks to ensure. Moreover, ITGI is the most mature pipeline project of the South Corridor in terms of licensing and financing.
These are some of the main conclusions of a study that the Institute of Energy for SE Europe (IENE) recently completed, which is a comparative analysis of the benefits that Greece will gain from three competing potential gas pipelines transcending the country, i.e. ITGI, TAP and South Stream
