The SE Europe Energy Dialogue, convened by the Institute of Energy for SE Europe (IENE), for the 9th year running, in Thessaloniki on June 29-30, proved once again a highly rewarding event and one of the highlights of the current regional energy agenda. This year’s intense two-day Energy Dialogue event attracted more than 75 delegates from 20 different countries from the region and beyondAmong the key regional companies which were represented in this year’s Energy Dialogue were Serbia’s NIS, Srbijagas, AERS, SEEPEX, Croatia’s Plinacro, Bulgaria’s ESO EAD, Turkey’s Turkerler, TUPRAS and EPIAS, the "Cyprus Natural Hydrocarbons Company Ltd.”, Norway’s DNV, Greece’s Public Power Corporation (PPC), Public Gas Corporation (DEPA), Hellenic Petroleum SA, EPA Attikis, Mytilineos Holdings S.A., EnSCo SA, KG Law Firm, Energean Oil & Gas Company, Intelen, Iran’s NIGEC, as well as senior experts from international think tanks and companies such as Columbia’s Center on Global Energy Policy, UK’s Energy Exemplar, US’ Enalytica, etc.
There was also considerable participation by senior officials from major international organizations - including the International Energy Agency (IEA), the European Commission, the Energy Charter, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the Coordinated Auction Office of South East Europe, (SEE CAO).
Some 45 presentations and interventions were contributed in this year’s Energy Dialogue while lively discussions took place in various well organized panels. The special theme of this year’s meeting was the ‘Quest for a New Energy Balance’, signifying the rebalancing now taking place in the global and regional energy markets. The subjects covered in the 2016 Thessaloniki ‘Energy Dialogue’ ranged from the efforts now under way to establish EU’s all encompassing Energy Union and the impact of this huge undertaking at regional level, to the pressing energy security issues especially evident in the eastern and south eastern periphery of the region. The fast changing electricity markets in several countries of the region including Turkey, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia and Croatia was the subject of intense deliberations as well as the efforts now in progress to create a more liquid and unified regional gas market. The role of major oil and gas suppliers to the region’s energy markets was also analyzed with useful contributions by Russian and Iranian experts.
The further development of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) and their increasing penetration in the region’s energy mix together with progress made in energy efficiency applications was another area of interest which was hotly debated during the two day ‘Energy Dialogue’ gathering. Also the various oil and gas exploration programmes in the different countries of the SE European region, with emphasis in the Adriatic and the Eastern Mediterranean attracted considerable interest.
Furthermore,
the key findings of "SE Europe Energy Outlook 2016”, a major reference
study undertaken by IENE, which will be published later in the year, were
presented for the first time during the conference.
Detailed information on the proceedings and conclusions of IENE’s 9thSEEED will soon be available on this website.
