Plinacro at International Meeting in Tirana - "Beyond Borders - Towards a Sustainable Energy Market and Low Carbon Economy"

Organized by the Albanian gas transmission system operator Albgaz, and under the auspices of the Albanian Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy, an international meeting "Beyond Borders - Towards a Sustainable Energy Market and Low Carbon Economy" was held in Tirana on 27 April 2022, with a participation of Plinacro Board member, Marin Zovko.


 

The aim of this event was to bring together partners, energy leaders and stakeholders from the Western Balkans, the European Union, the United States and beyond, as indicated by the participation of many renowned companies such as Exxon Mobil, SNAM, ENAGAS, SOCAR, Shell, Total, TAP and other participants.
 

Addressing the participants, the meeting was opened by Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, Albanian Minister of Infrastructure and Energy Belinda Balluku and US Ambassador to Albania Yuri Kim.

Recent developments in Ukraine have highlighted the importance of energy security, affecting policies globally. With current energy uncertainty, climate challenges and a new EU decarbonisation regulatory framework are further accelerating the energy transition of the Western Balkans towards carbon neutrality, with natural gas as the energy source that will play a key role in replacing high carbon fossil fuels. 
 

In this context, the Ionian-Adriatic Pipeline project was also discussed in the meeting, as a potential new gas supply route for the countries on the pipeline route, but also for other countries in Central and Central Eastern Europe. The mentioned project, with the announcement of the construction of a new LNG terminal in Albania with a capacity of 5 bcm and the extension of the TAP, represents a new possibility of gas supply in the region and diversification of supply routes. All these projects are compatible with Plinacro's development plans and can play a role in further strengthening the security of gas supply in this part of Europe.