The necessary innovations and infrastructures for the greater penetration of Renewable Energy Sources (RES), the strengthening of competition in electricity markets, the challenges of decarbonization in SE Europe, the example of Hellenic Petroleum as an integrated energy company, the global and regional dimension of energy developments, but also the geopolitical role of energy in the European area were fully analyzed and hotly debated in the second and last day of the 12th Energy Dialogue for SE Europe last Thursday.
"In Search of a New Energy Direction in SE Europe" was the conference’s main theme and was organized by the Institute of Energy for SE Europe (IENE). The event, which this year took place exclusively online, on December 9 – 10, and attracted more than 50 speakers and panellists and above 150 attendees. Once again, the SEE Energy Dialogue attracted several of the region’s top experts as well as senior executives from major energy and financial institutions and institutions from all over the world.
The proceedings of the second day commenced with Session V whose theme focused on "Networks, Storage and Innovation for Higher RES Penetration" and was moderated by Andreas Petropouleas, Director of Energy Management at Elpedison and Chairman of the Electricity Committee of IENE. In the context of this session, Dr. Ioannis Kambouris, Chairman of the Regional Electricity Control Center of SE Europe, based in Thessaloniki, focused on the different scenarios for the penetration of RES in distributed energy by 2050 and the importance of energy storage in achieving the set targets. The panel discussion which followed included presentations and comments by the following: Dr. Mustafa Tiris, General Manager, TDinamik Energy, from Turkey, Shkelqim Bozgo, Managing Director, SEA Consulting, from Albania, Stamatis Asimis, Key Projects & New Technologies Manager, from Sunlight in Greece and Binu Parthan, Head of Regions Unit, of IRENA, from Abu Dhabi. The session concluded with input from Alexandros Perellis, Senior Researcher at IENE, who presented the latest studies of the Institute on energy storage and autonomous island electricity networks.
The 12th Energy Dialogue for SE Europe continued with the Session VI on "Transition to more competitive Electricity Markets" which was coordinated by Nickos Frydas, Principal, Head of Electricity, Grant Thornton and member of IENE. The keynote speaker was Prof. George Ioannou, CEO, EnEx Group, who spoke at length about the new electricity market that started operating in Greece in early November on the basis of the European "Target Model”, and the challenges arising from the opening of the energy market. Ahmet Turkoglu, CEO, of the Energy Exchange Istanbul (EXIST), from Turkey contributed a comprehensive presentation on EXIST and its role in promoting energy trade and investments in Turkey. Konstantin Konstantinov, CEO, Independent Bulgarian Energy Exchange (IBEX), from Bulgaria, Milos Mladenovic, Managing Director, South East European Power Exchange (SEEPEX) from Serbia and Sokol Dishnica, CEO, Albanian Power Exchange (ALPEX) from Albania presented their respective viewpoints on the operation of electricity markets in their countries and the problems they face on the way to Energy Transition.
Session VII on "Decarbonization Challenges in SE Europe" was moderated by Dr. Ioannis Desypris, Director of Regulatory Affairs of the Mytilineos Group and past Chairman of IENE. The keynote speaker was Dr. Ioannis Tzortzis, Legal Adviser of the Just Transition Development Plan (SDAM) Steering Committee, Ministry of Environment and Energy, Attorney at Law at the Supreme Court of the Regulatory Authority for Energy (RAE), who spoke in detail about the challenges and prospects for the Western Macedonia and Megalopolis regions following the government’s decision to decarbonize fully by 2028 but also made extensive reference to the government plans and its Master Plan for decarbonizing Greece’s remote Aegean islands and the need for them to switch to RES. Slavtcho Neykov, Chairman of the BoD, Energy Management Institute (EMI), from Bulgaria, and Fotis Kalantzis, Senior Economist, European Investment Bank (EIB), from Luxembourg, contributed useful ideas and comments in the same session.
Costis Stambolis, Chairman of IENE, coordinated Session VII "Towards an Integrated Energy Company: The example of Hellenic Petroleum". The keynote speaker of the session, George Alexopoulos, General Manager Group Strategic Planning & New Activities, Executive Member of the BOD of Hellenic Petroleum, presented in detail the activities of the "Hellenic Petroleum" Group, their role in the development of the Greek economy, but also outlined plans for the groups’ further involvement in the energy markets of SE Europe. The role and plans of HELPE in the RES sector were presented by Dr. Sotiris Kapellos, Operation & Development Manager, BoD Member, ELPE Renewables, Hellenic Petroleum, while Liana Gouta, Group Director Energy Policy & International Affairs, at HELPE referred to the new types of "green” fuels that will soon be introduced in the market by the Group.
"The Global and Regional Dimension of Energy Efficiency” was the topic of Session IX with invited keynote speaker Mr. Jeremy Sung, Energy Efficiency Policy Analyst at the IEA in Paris who presented the Agency’s latest work on energy efficiency and the serious policy implications. Costas Theofylaktos, Chairman of the Energy Efficiency Committee of IENE and a Partner of the Institute reviewed progress made across SE Europe and described some of the key issues facing the sector in SEE.
The last session of the 12th Energy Dialogue focused on the Geopolitical Dimension of Energy from a European Perspective. The session was moderated by Christos Dimas, Chairman of the Energy and Geopolitics Committee of IENE and Partner of the Institute. Contributors to the Session included: John Roberts, Independent Energy Consultant, from the United Kingdom, Dr. Marika Karagianni, Energy expert, Research Associate- Visiting lecturer, University of Peloponnese - PEDIS, Dr. George Filis, Assistant Professor of International Relations and Strategy at Ledra College, Nicosia, Prof. Ionut Purica, Executive Director, Advisory Center for Energy and Environment, Romanian Academy, Romania, and Chen Dong, Deputy CEO, Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO).
Bringing the proceedings of the 12th Energy Dialogue to a close, the Chairman of IENE, Costis Stambolis, stressed the importance and role of this online event in strengthening understanding and cooperation in the energy sector between all countries in the region and announced the holding of three follow up special webinars on specific topics in the first quarter of 2021.
