Mr. Papanastasiou said that in the workshop starting tomorrow in Nicosia they will try to see the investment interest in infrastructure construction
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The energy workshop that takes place on Monday and Tuesday in Nicosia was described by the Minister of Energy, Trade and Industry, Giorgos Papanastasiou, as the first important milestone for the formulation of decisions concerning the energy policy of the Republic of Cyprus.
As the Minister of Energy stated at KYPE, this is the first milestone of the entire effort and concerns the infrastructures that will be created, while the second milestone is the transition to Israel on June 14-15, where discuss the issue of the product that will enter these infrastructures.
Mr. Papanastasiou said that in the workshop starting tomorrow in Nicosia they will try to see the investment interest in the construction of infrastructure, while regarding the flow of natural gas in quantities suitable to support the project of natural gas transportation from Israel to Cyprus and then for export to Europe, the interest will be determined after they talk to Israel.
The Energy Minister is scheduled to travel to Israel on June 14-15, leading a team of technocrats with legal backgrounds, expertise in the law of the sea and technicians who know about pipelines. In Israel, as he mentioned, there will be meetings in the corresponding Ministry of the country.
Asked about the road map for the action announced by the President of the Republic that will be announced soon, Mr. Papanastasiou stated that this will be specified after the results of both the workshop and the visit to Israel.
Interest exceeded expectations
The workshop held on May 29-20 entitled “The Cyprus Gateway: Natural Gas to Power and Liquefaction”, by the Ministry of Energy, Trade and Industry in collaboration with the Cyprus Hydrocarbons Company ( EYK), has managed to gather significant interest from companies operating internationally throughout the natural gas and electricity chain.
The Minister stated that the interest in the conference exceeded what they expected. they had asked things about infrastructure planning and infrastructure construction, etc., but there were also some others that were nice surprises, who had never been interested in the Eastern Mediterranean in the past”, said the Minister.
It seems, he added, that the Eastern Mediterranean is starting to attract interest and that Europe sees it as an alternative form of supply that will last for decades to come, despite the existing green energy strategy.
In response to a question, he said that the companies that did the surprise are a couple of energy companies and two other technology companies, which learned about the workshop from industry and asked to participate. He added that these are companies very specialized in their field, while some of them are also related to Israel.
He added that private companies involved in the supply chain will come from Israel. for the specific project that the Government put on the table as an alternative solution for natural gas in the region.
The workshop will start at 9 in the morning, there will be a greeting from the Minister of Energy, while at 10.00 the President of the Republic Nikos Christodoulidis will address it. In his speech, the President will give the direction of what Cyprus is seeking.
Then, as the Minister mentioned, there will be technical support from the experts of the Ministry of Commerce and the EYK in a closed place in which there will be the rule of confidentiality and anonymity of the participants (Chatham Rules). The workshop is expected to last around three hours and then there will be one-on-one meetings of some of the participants with the Ministry of Energy for any clarifications and questions. At this point, said Mr. Papanastasiou, their interest in getting involved in some part of the supply chain will also be noticed.
“We have a lot of hope for tomorrow,” said Mr. Papanastasiou, noting however that they do not expect an immediate reaction, but the real interest is expected to be officially expressed by the companies when they return to their base and evaluate what they heard.
