Following an invitation by the US Secretary of Energy, Jennifer Granholm, and the Croatian Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, Davos Filipovic, the Chairman and Executive Director of IENE, Costis Stambolis, participated in the 4th Ministerial Meeting of the Partnership for Transatlantic Energy and Climate Cooperation (P- TECC) which took place in Zagreb, Croatia in March 1-2.
Backed by the Atlantic Council and the American-Central European Business Association (ACEBA), this unique two-day forum assembled senior government officials, energy and climate ministers, and civil society representatives from the broader region. The primary objective of the Ministerial Meeting was to harmonize international and regional efforts and consider the critical decisions which need to be taken in order to tackle the serious economic and political challenges which Europe is now facing as a result of Russia's aggression and weaponisation of energy resources.
The Meeting gathered more than 200 senior energy policy officials and experts and covered the entire energy resource, technology and policy spectrum including oil and gas, electricity networks, nuclear power, Renewable Energy Sources (RES) and energy efficiency. Energy security, including cyber security, emerged as a key area of cooperation and joint action, while a strong emphasis was placed on nuclear power and geothermal energy, which are seen as clean and safe energy sources that can meet the long-term baseload needs of current and future electrical energy systems.
Meeting of IENE’s Chairman with the Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy
During this year's P-TECC Conference, discussions on the issue of base load took center stage. The US Secretary of Energy, Jennifer Granholm, gave particular emphasis to this topic in both her keynote speeches during the plenary sessions and in the closed ministerial meetings held alongside the main Conference. Accompanying Mrs. Granholm was a group of high level DOE officials, including Andrew Light, Assistant Secretary of Energy for International Affairs. IENE’s Chairman had the chance to meet with Mr. Light and brief him on the Institute's activities, including its approach to energy issues in Southeast Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean region. During their meeting, Mr. Stambolis handed Mr. Light the Institute's flagship publication, the "SEE Energy Outlook 2021/2022".
The Chairman of IENE also participated in the break out session on “Security of Energy Supply” which was moderated by Victoria Zinchuk, Director of EBRD in Croatia. Participants in the session included Shiyana Gunasekara, from Energy Transitions in Emerging Markets, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). , Ervin Ibrahimovic, Minister of Capital Investments from Montenegro, Rosen Hristov, Energy Minister of Bulgaria, Brad Crabtree, Assistant Secretary at DOE, Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management and Damir Vrbic, Director of Croatia’s JANAF.
In his intervention Costis Stambolis referred to the region’s efforts to improve cooperation on electricity and gas networks and hence improve energy security, citing latest examples involving Greece, Bulgaria and North Macedonia. Among other things, Mr. Stambolis pointed out the common challenges faced by operators of electricity transmission and distribution networks in the region, as they have to ensure sufficient capacity and deal with issues related to the licensing and connection of new solar/wind power units and biomass, due to the increasing penetration of RES in local and regional networks.
