Security of Supply in the Balkan region – Regional workshop conclusions on 31 October 201

November 6, 2018

Regional workshop conclusions on 31 October 2018

Security of supply is one of the three pillars and strategic objectives of the European energy policy.

With the aim to enhance the new European Regulation (EU) 2017/1938, concerning measures to safeguard security of gas supply, on October 31 ^st , GIE with the support of the Greek Ministry of Environment & Energy, the Regulatory Authority of Energy (RAE) and the Hellenic Gas Transmission System Operator (DESFA) organized a regional workshop dedicated to the security of gas supply in the South South-East Europe. The participating Member States as defined in the Regulation are Greece, Bulgaria and Romania.

The workshop, hosted by DESFA in its Headquarters in Athens, brought together representatives of the European Commission, ACER, ENTSOG, Joint Research Centre, the regional and European gas infrastructure operators, as well as the Competent Authorities.

The ongoing development of BRUA, TAP, East Med pipelines, the interconnectors between Bulgaria and Greece, Romania, Serbia and Turkey, the Interconnector between Greece and FYROM (IGF), FSRU in Northern Greece, Underground Gas Storage facility ‘South Kavala’, as well as the upgrade of the Revithoussa LNG terminal, demonstrate significant progress in the security of gas supply in the Balkan region.

New key elements of the new regulation include a shift from national to regional approach and a corridor approach for reverse flow, an explicit mechanism for solidarity and improved exchange of information and transparency. In that respect, views and experiences concerning the regional risk assessment (supported by the hydraulic simulation) as well as preventive actions that can mitigate the impact of a crisis, were shared and discussed. In the exchange of best practices, gas infrastructure operators from Italy (Snam), Denmark (Gas Storage Denmark), the UK (National Grid) and France (GRTgaz) presented their respective measures in place to cope with the security of supply risk.

A truly completed, well-interconnected, diversified and a well-functioning internal energy market, where energy can flow freely across borders and across sectors is a pre-condition towards any vision related to the future of gas and gas infrastructure. A successful and cost-efficient energy transition can only be attained with the mix of energy sources and technologies instead of a single energy source. It became clear during the workshop that the regional Competent Authorities examine the growing role of renewable gases and the potential of gas and electricity networks coupling, which can be achieved by adopting the coordinated and integrated planning approach.

Note to editors

Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) is an association representing the interests of European natural gas infrastructure operators active in natural gas transmission, storage and LNG regasification. GIE is a trusted partner of European institutions, regulatory bodies and industry stakeholders. It is based in Brussels, the heart of European policymaking.

GIE currently represents 69 member companies from 25 countries. Its internal structure has three columns corresponding to the three types of infrastructure activities represented: GTE (Gas Transmission Europe), GSE (Gas Storage Europe) and GLE (Gas LNG Europe), all of which fall under the umbrella of GIE. This structure allows member companies to speak with one voice on infrastructure topics as well as to build positions on column-specific issues.
To find out more about GIE’s structure and activities, please visit our website at www.gie.eu .