The special colloquium convened by IENE in Athens on March 5 to discuss the geopolitics of Energy Transition at regional level proved hugely successful judging by the range of topics discussed and the high level of speakers and panelists who participated in the event.The special colloquium convened by IENE in Athens on March 5 to discuss the geopolitics of Energy Transition at regional level proved hugely successful judging by the range of topics discussed and the high level of speakers and panelists who participated in the event. With more than 100 participants including 20 speakers and panelists, this unique gathering which was held in Greece's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, attracted participants and speakers from several countries in the region and beyond ranging from the UK, the Netherlands and Russia to Turkey, Israel, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Romania and of course from Greece.
The event's significance was underlined by the strong political representation from Greece since the minister of Environment and Energy Mr.George Stathakis opened the proceedings of the Colloquium by a strongly worded address where he outlined Greece's current activities in the broad energy sector stressing his government's increasingly important and fast moving efforts in developing international energy connections in electricity and gas. Stathakis's opening speech was followed by an equally important intervention by one of his predecessors, the well respected Mr. John Maniatis, MP, and former minister for energy (2012-2015). Maniatis, who is credited with Greece's resumption of oil and gas exploration since 2011 and for gearing a number of major energy infrastructure projects stressed the need for regional cooperation in energy as "the only way for moving forward and accelerating economic development " According to Maniatis Greece is capable of attracting some € 50 billion of investments in the energy sector over the next 10 years.
The Colloquium' s main topics included a review of the global and geopolitical developments and an assessment of their impact on the energy sector, the significance of oil and gas exploration and production and how these help shape the geopolitical environment, and the the role of electricity and gas interconnections in terms of energy market integration and energy security. Of particular interest were the presentations contributed by John Roberts from the UK, Gokhan Yardim from Turkey,Slavtcho Neykov from Bulgaria, Prof. Ionut Purica from Romania, Dr.Danila Bocharev from Russia, Dr.Nektaria Karakatsani from Greece, Gina Cohen from Israel, Dr.Yannis Bassias from Greece and by Dr.Marika Karayianni also from Greece.
The full proceedings of the colloquium with all power point presentations and main speeches can be found in the special microsite which IENE has created and can be accessed through www.iene.eu/congress/15/2nd-iene-colloquium-on-the-geopolitics-of-energy-Transition
The Colloquium' main sponsors were Greece's Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO) and one of Greece's leading law firms, "KG Law Firm", while energia.gr, Greece's primary energy portal was the event's media partner.
