02.03.2023.
Director of the Fund, Luka Balen, as a member of the delegation of the minister of economy and sustainable development, Davor Filipović , participated in the business forum and ministerial meeting under the P-TECC initiative aiming to boost the transatlantic energy cooperation for energy transition and energy security.P-TECC is a multilateral initiative headed by the US Department of Energy, focusing on the rapid decarbonisation of the economy in Eastern and Central Europe, strengthening energy security in the region, developing business ties with the US companies, and fostering future cooperation. P-TECC comprises 24 countries in Eastern and Central Europe and is complementary to the Three Seas Initiative, with an emphasis on energy infrastructure, connectivity, and security.
This year’s P-TECC Meeting started with a Business Forum gathering leaders from the public and the private sectors in the discussion about the energy security, grid optimisation, clean energy technologies, and support to the Ukrainian energy system.
Before the Ministerial Meeting started, the attendees were addressed by the Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković.
“Hosting the meeting at such a high level at this moment in time is an acknowledgement of Croatia’s and the Croatian Government’s efforts aimed at reducing, through joint endeavour, the impacts of the energy crisis felt across Europe and the West – which are united in their support of Ukraine – and also ensuring that sources of energy remain affordable for our citizens,” said the President of the Croatian Government Plenković. He pointed out the important role of the Republic of Croatia would have in the future as a regional energy hub – with the oil terminal, the LNG terminal, the Adriatic Pipeline, and investment in gas pipelines. Regarding the energy crisis affecting all sectors of the economy, he presented to the attendees the steps the Croatian Government had taken to mitigate the potential knock-on effect of the energy crisis on citizens and the business sector.
“The events unfolding in the past year demonstrated that the P-TECC initiative is very relevant in terms of the global climate and energy policies. Despite many challenges, we are responsible in fostering the low-carbon future and we are committed to providing the finance that will speed up the processes regarding supply security, diversification of energy sources, and strengthening energy production from renewable sources to increase energy efficiency. Therefore, we are delighted with the fact that Croatia has become an important energy hub in this part of Europe, and that in this year’s P-TECC meeting, Croatia was the initiator of the Task Force on geothermal energy, whose mission will be to promote the advantages of geothermal energy, which can significantly contribute to the decarbonisation,” said minister Davor Filipović.
The US Energy Secretary Jennifer M. Granholm said that despite the crisis, 2022 had been another record year for installing RES systems worldwide. She praised the efforts that the Republic of Croatia and the European Union had made to achieve energy independence and security after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Many bilateral meetings were held on the margins of the Business Forum and the Ministerial Meeting where talks were held about the green energy transition that would contribute to not only climate change mitigation but the supply chain security as well.
