On the 25 & 26th of October, the Institute of Energy for SE Europe (IENE) organized, once again in Athens, its annual national energy conference "Energy and Development 2016”On the 25 & 26th of October, the Institute of Energy for SE Europe (IENE) organized, once again in Athens, its annual national energy conference "Energy and Development 2016”. Executives, experts and representatives from international, European and regional organizations of the energy field, as well as from companies active in SE European countries and beyond were among the speakers of this established annual IENE event, which, this year, focused on "Investing in Energy in an Uncertain Economic and Geopolitical Environment”.
On the opening day of the conference, Ms. Sylvia Beyer (Desk Officer, Office of Global Energy Policy, International Energy Agency -IEA, Paris, France), Mr. Patrick Larkin (Senior Advisor, Energy Charter Secretariat, Brussels, Belgium), Dr. Charles Ellinas (CEO, Cyprus Natural Hydrocarbons Company Ltd., Cyprus), Dr. Konstantinos Nikolaou (Technical Advisor, Energean Oil & Gas, Member of the BoD, IENE, Athens, Greece), Dr. Amit Mor (CEO, Eco Energy Financial & Strategic Consulting, Israel), and Dr. Savvas Seimanidis (Chairman, EREF, Brussels, Belgium), participated in the session which covered the global and regional environment.
High-ranking officers and representatives of Greece’s national energy champions, including Mr. Emmanouil Panagiotakis, (Chairman & CEO, Public Power Corporation SA -PPC, Athens, Greece), Mr. Efstathios Tsotsoros (Chairman, Hellenic Petroleum SA, Athens, Greece), Mr. George Spyrou (Executive Director, Terna Energy, Athens, Greece), and Dr. Stelios Bikos (Head of Commercial Division, Public Gas Corporation (DEPA), Athens, Greece), described the challenges their companies face in planning their investments in a yet unstable economic environment which characterizes Greece.
The proceedings of IENE’s 21st «Energy & Development» Conference opened with a keynote speech by, Greece’s Minister of Environment and Energy of Greece, Mr. Panos Skourletis, followed by Mr. Konstantinos Skrekas (MP for Trikala, Responsible for the Environment, Energy and Climate Change sector, Former Minister of Development and Competitiveness, New Democracy Political Party) and Prof. Ioannis Maniatis (MP for Argolida, Dimokratiki Symparataxi, Former Minister of Environment, Energy and Climate Change, Professor at University of Piraeus).
More than 40 speakers and panelists participated in the "Energy and Development 2016” conference, focusing on latest national and regional challenges. Security of energy supply, energy source diversification and geopolitics were dominant themes together with the fast-changing electricity sector of Greece, which, after many years of stagnation, is being forcefully transformed into a competitive market.
This year’s major sponsor of IENE’s annual conference was Hellenic Petroleum. Sponsors of the event also included Greece’s Public Gas Corporation (DEPA) and the Public Power Company (PPC), while it was also supported by Energean Oil & Gas, Terna Energy, KG Law Firm, Volterra and EPA Attikis. Media Partners for this year’s conference included the daily "Kathimerini”, Fmvoice.gr and Allazorevma.gr websites, as well as Energia.gr, Greece’s leading energy portal.
