In a new report, Three pipelines and the three seas: BRUA, TAP, the IAP and gasification in Southeast Europe, Global Energy Center Fellow John Roberts takes a comprehensive look at the state of gas infrastructure and interconnections throughout southeast Europe.
Integration in the region, which includes countries that were formerly members of the Warsaw Pact, is crucially important not just for economic development and the further integration of the European gas market, but also as a bulwark against reliance on Russian gas supplies. Interconnection offers options and liquidity—crucial for competition and energy security.
In the report, Roberts provides an update on where things stand in terms of critical initiatives and individual projects, with a focus on the Three Seas, the BRUA pipeline, the Trans Adriatic pipeline, the Ionian Adriatic Pipeline, the Krk Island FSRU project, and gasification efforts in Southeast Europe. These projects, and broader support and financing for such projects is crucial, but there are also challenges in terms of which projects receive priority and how they might complement or compete with one another.
More attention to the future of gas market development in Southeast Europe is crucial. As Roberts concludes, “The projects considered in this report contribute to the ultimate objective of both the European Union and the Energy Community: a gas grid that functions smoothly and effectively throughout the region.”
Image: U.S. President Donald Trump, Polish President Andrzej Duda and Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic take part in a family photo along with other heads of states and delegates during the Three Seas Initiative Summit in Warsaw, Poland July 6, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria