PPC’s entire business plan is dedicated to the development of clean technologies and flexibility. Two factors drive the energy transition and our energy goals: firstly the development of clean technologies as quickly as possible and secondly flexibility”.

This was said by the President of PPC, Giorgos Stassis, among others, in a discussion on the new energy map and the energy transition in the Eastern Mediterranean and SE Europe. The Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy at the US Department of State, Kimberly Harrington, General Secretary of the East Med Gas Forum, Osama Mobarez and the senior fellow of the Royal United Services Institute and former ambassador, Jonathan Cohen, with Kathimerini journalist Iliana Magra as coordinator.

“Unlike ten to fifteen years ago, each new megawatt-hour of solar and wind is much cheaper than anything else. We’re trying to deploy them as quickly as possible. Of course, renewables have limitations. This is where flexibility comes in, and of course flexible technologies such as natural gas or batteries or pumping stations – are important technologies that will continue and will be even more important in the coming years”, noted Mr. Stassis and added that with a field of activity in Greece, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Romania, PPC has the ambition to grow more in the region. “Everything we do is because we look forward to this transition. We see an ecosystem at the end of this energy transition and we are taking small steps to get there day by day,” he said. Finally, he noted that on Monday he had the opportunity to meet with the Deputy Minister of Energy T. Payat to explain his plans. “I think that’s on the international agenda right now, the overall activities that we’re doing across the region,” he noted.

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy at the US Department of State, Kimberly Harrington, spoke about US energy diplomacy in Europe. He pointed out that Russia is projected to lose much of the world’s share of natural gas by 2030. “Russia’s forecast for internationally tradable natural gas, which had been set at 30% in 2021, is set to drop to 15% by 2030. we are talking about a dramatic change. US energy diplomacy is particularly focused on ensuring that our friends and allies, particularly in Europe, have access to reliable sources of energy,” he said. Focusing on Greece, he added that we see some examples of new interconnections, adding that the Greece-Bulgaria Interconnector is reshaping the region’s energy paths and helping to break the monopoly of the problem of natural gas supply in the region. “We also see the interconnection of Greece North Macedonia – a way to connect North Macedonia and increase its energy security,” he says.

The head of the East Med Gas Forum, Osama Mobarez, focused on climate actions by recalling the EMGF’s initiative on de-lignification, launched at COP27. “At COP28, we launched the second phase of this initiative. And our main focus from this is how can we produce more gas, but in a more responsible way? How can we turn the Eastern Mediterranean into a low-cost, low-carbon energy supply?” This initiative identified the five main pillars for the EMGF: technology, harmonization of policies and regulations, the emergence of the region as a hub, the effort to facilitate financing and attract investment provided by the private sector and the certification of levels coal.

The former ambassador, Jonathan Cohen, among others, spoke about the huge untapped energy potential, the energy mix and RES in combination with hydrogen. “You have to think about the whole production basket and how you’re going to manage it,” he said of hydrogen combined with undersea cables, solar and wind power. “Interestingly, the EU has designated eight different places in the European Union as hydrogen valleys, including Crete. So there is a pilot program being considered to grow the hydrogen valley. Hydrogen production is also complicated, so it has to be done somewhere far away from an urban center and very close to both a power source and a transport link. We’re not there yet, but it’s coming fast.”