On 6 November in Brussels, MEDREG held its energy Forum entitled “At the Forefront of Pro-active and Resilient Energy Regulation”, which saw the participation of key energy experts who exchanged on gas and renewable energy developments in the Mediterranean region through a pro-active dialogue. Representatives of international institutions, regulators, industry and academia underlined the fundamental synergy between gas and renewable energies to shape the developments of Mediterranean energy markets and the energy trade routes, agreeing on the importance of a fruitful collaboration between Regulatory Authorities to ensure the creation of a regulatory framework able to accommodate the changes to come.
The main energy challenge for the Mediterranean area is to satisfy the rapid growth in energy demand in harmony with the principles of sustainable development. This new energy hunger is the result of population growth, economic development, and urbanization. Indeed, sustainable solutions to address this need will require large investments in infrastructure and transparent, efficient and sustainable regulatory frameworks. For over ten years, MEDREG, as the main protagonist of the regulatory dialogue in the region has deeply pursued these goals.
Mrs. Henrike Trautmann, Head of Regional Programs Neighbourhood South from the European Commission stated that “regional dialogue is the raison d’être for EU policy support”, underlying the “vital role of MEDREG as a technical and functional cooperation platform that manages to overcome the political differences affecting the region”.The future of energy cooperation in the Mediterranean is inextricably linked to the combination of renewable energy and gas. The engineering and regulatory synergies between these two sectors are fundamental for the journey of the energy transition. This Forum focused on the role of renewable energy and gas sources in developing sound regional regulatory frameworks and reliable markets along with the ultimate goal of creating a functioning Mediterranean energy market.