Focusing on "Energy Markets in Transition”, this year’s IENE’s
annual national "Energy and Development” conference, took place in Athens
on November 23-24, and was held, as usual, at the conference centre of the
Eugenides Foundation. "Energy and Development 2017”, which
was organized under the auspices of Greece’s Ministry of Environment and
Energy, sought to underline the major changes already taking place in the
shaping of the energy mix at both national, regional and global level.
The conference was attended by senior executives,
scientists, engineers and energy professionals from major Greek energy-related
companies and policy-makers, as well as by representatives from various leading
European energy and industry groups and international organizations. The
conference attracted strong support from industry with a wide range of
companies from electricity, oil and gas and renewable sponsoring this major
event.
The conference started with an opening address by
IENE’ Chairman Mr. John Chadjivassiliades while IENE’s Executive Director Mr.
Costis Stambolis along with Prof. Pantelis Capros, the Institute’s Scientific
Council Chairman, contributed opening remarks. Among the keynote speakers of
the conference were Mr. George Stathakis, Greece’s Minister for Environment and
Energy, Dr. Athanasios Dokos, General Manager, Hellenic
Foundation for European and Foreign Policy, Mr. Manolis Panagiotakis, Chairman
and CEO, Public Power Corporation (PPC), Mr. Eustathios Tsotsoros, Chairman,
Hellenic Petroleum (HELPE), Mr. Michalis Filippou, Chairman and CEO, Hellenic
Electricity Market Operator (HEMO), Mr. Manousos Manousakis, Chairman and CEO,
Independent Power Transmission Operator, Mr. George Polychroniou, Executive
Director Strategy, Business Development, Administration & IT, Public Gas
Corporation (DEPA). An overview of European and regional energy markets was
made by Mr. Karl Vella, Coordinator Environment and Climate Change Environment
& Sustainable Development Policy Unit, of Εurelectric, Ms. Eugenia Gusilov,
Director, ROEC, Romania and Dr. Yurdakul Yigitguden, Independent Energy
Consultant and Former Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environment Activities,
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, from Turkey.
In what appeared to be one of the most successful IENE
events of recent years "Energy & Development 2017” attracted record crowds
with more than 300 registered participants. A total of fifty two speakers and
panelists actively participated in this long established annual event covering
between them a wide range of topics in the broad energy spectrum. These topics
included: The Greek Energy Market in Search of a New Direction, The Global
Energy Markets in Transition, Exploring forHydrocarbons in Greece, The Key Role
of Natural Gas and Renewables in the Energy Transition, TheCritical Transition
of the Greek Energy Electricity Market and the Target Model, Long Term Energy
Planning and Energy Security, and Confronting Energy Poverty. The
conference concluded ith a round table discussionon the role of energy as a
level for investment and development. To view the detailed conference programme
visit the conference banner at www.iene.eu.
Greece’s Public Power Corporation S.A. was the lead sponsor of this year’s "Energy and Development” Conference, while the Transmission System Operator (ADMIE) was the event’s strategic sponsor with Hellenic Petroleum S. A. and TERNA Energy S. A. being its sponsors. The supporters of the Conference included Energean Oil & Gas, the Public Gas Corporation (DEPA), MYTILINEOS S.A., KG Law Firm and EDA Attikis S. A., while Greece’s leading energy portal, Energia.Gr, the daily Kathimerini, "New Europe” and "Finance & Markets Voice” newspapers, as well as Euro2Day, Insider.gr, FM Voice.gr and EnergyPress websites were the event’s media partners.
IEA’s World Energy Outlook
2017
Oneof the highlights of this year’s conference was the presentation of
IEA’s World Energy Outlook 2017 since Athens had been selected as one of the 10
cities worldwide where IEA’s major report was to be presented. Hence WEO 2017
was presentedduring the opening session of the"Energy & Development 2017”
conference byMr. Brent Wanner, Senior Energy Analyst, at IEA headquartersin
Paris.
The IEA flagship publication World Energy Outlook (WEO), widely regarded
as the gold standard of energy analysis, provides, strategic insight on what
today’s policy and investment decisions mean for long-term trends. Based on
rigorous modeling across different scenarios, the WEO projections are used by
public and private sector stakeholders as a framework for policy-making,
planning and investment decisions, and to identify pathways to a sustainable
energy future.
WEO 2017 reflects the fluctuating status of the global energy scene in
our time, where large-scale shifts in the global energy system are the key
feature. These shifts include the rapid deployment and deep declines in the
costs of major renewable energy technologies; a growing shift towards
electricity in energy use across the globe; profound changes in China’s economy
and energy policy, moving consumption away from coal; and the continued surge
in shale gas and tight oil production in the United States.
These changes provide the backdrop for the WEO 2017, which includes a full update of energy demand and supply projections to 2040 based on different scenarios. The projections are accompanied by detailed analyses of their impact on energy industries and investment, as well as implications for energy security and the environment.