Torben Brabo, also the Senior Vice President of International Relations in the Energinet Group, emphasized the association's mission to augment the decarbonisation of Europe’s economy while bolstering the security of supply. He cited REPowerEU's directive as a guiding light for GIE's endeavors and expressed the association's unwavering commitment to the European Commission and the energy sector. The board proudly welcomed its new members, Anna Slavkovská from Slovakia's Nafta and Pierre Duvieusart from France's GRTgaz.
On 20th September, the GIE Board convened in Brussels to deliberate on the recent global and European challenges and breakthroughs concerning decarbonisation and energy. The discussions highlighted the increasing significance of infrastructure in linking Europe to the global market. The board also discussed strides made in diversifying supply routes and sources since the previous year and contemplated the industry's impending transformation. The synergy between the electricity and gas sectors was underscored as an essential focal point.
Boyana Achovski, GIE Secretary General, outlined the organisation's evolving role across three timeframes: the immediate, the mid-term, and the long-term. While ensuring a secure supply for forthcoming winters is the immediate concern, the longer-term goals revolve around supporting renewable energy growth and fostering a completely decarbonised European energy system. Achovski emphasized the urgency of these priorities and assured they would shape the organization's forthcoming activities.
Reflecting on the challenges faced a year prior, Torben highlighted the swift response of gas infrastructure operators in mitigating various challenges, including the reversal of flows in the transmission pipeline system. The pivotal role of gas storages in ensuring a steady gas supply to European households and industries was underscored, especially considering the past year's gas import shortages from Russia. The hastened permit process for constructing new LNG terminals was noted as a beneficial move, opening avenues for more imported energy into the EU market.
Concluding the announcements, Boyana Achovski reiterated GIE's alignment with the vision outlined in Ursula von der Leyen’s #SOTEU’s programme. The commitment to ensuring European competitiveness while focusing on a clean transition is shared by GIE. She asserted that gas infrastructure operators would continue to embrace collaboration to expedite the transformation to a carbon-neutral and resilient energy system efficiently.
For those unfamiliar, Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) represents the interests of European gas infrastructure operators involved in gas transmission, gas storage, and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) regasification. Based in Brussels, GIE currently represents 70 member companies from 26 countries.
