Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 21
By Aygun Badalova - Trend:
The EU is progressing with the works on strengthening the interconnections in Central and South Eastern Europe (CSEE) as the part of the EU's energy diversification aim, the source in the European Commission told Trend.
"Energy security is a key priority for the Energy Union. As clearly stated in the Energy Union strategy, energy diversification is crucial for ensuring secure and resilient energy supplies to EU citizens and companies," the source said.
"To this end, the European Union is particularly committed to diversification of gas sources, counterparties and routes, aiming to reduce overdependence on a single dominant supplier or route," the source added.
The European Commission is working to with the objective to have more interconnected and competitive energy, including gas, markets in Europe, with initiatives such as the Southern Gas Corridor, the establishment of liquid gas hubs in the Mediterranean area and LNG being in the center of its strategy, according to the source.
As the examples the source mentioned a strategy on LNG and gas storage which will be presented by European Commission in the coming months.
"Furthermore, works to strengthen the interconnections in Central and South Eastern Europe are also progressing via the Central and South-Eastern European Gas Connectivity (CESEC) initiative joining Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia," the source said.
In July, 2015, Central Eastern and South Eastern European countries agreed to join forces to create an integrated gas market. The Memorandum of Understanding that formally launches this initiative was in Dubrovnik, Croatia.
The initiative, in particular includes accelerating the building of missing gas infrastructure links and to tackle the remaining technical and regulatory issues which hamper security of supply and the development of a fully integrated and competitive energy market in the region.
A number of infrastructure projects, such as the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), LNG terminal in Croatia and evacuation system, system reinforcement in Bulgaria and Romania, interconnectors between Greece and Bulgaria and between Serbia and Bulgaria, have been identified as top priorities in the Action Plan annexed to the Memorandum.
TAP project is a part of the Southern Gas Corridor that will allow Europe to diversify its hydrocarbon supply sources and strengthen energy security.
At the initial stage, the gas to be produced as part of the second phase of development of Azerbaijani gas condensate Shah Deniz field is considered as the main source for the Southern Gas Corridor project. At a later stage, other sources may join the project.