GIE Members are committed to fulfil the European Union objectives under the UN Paris Agreement on Climate Change whilst guaranteeing the supply of affordable energy for all citizens. GIE believes that decarbonisation can only be achieved in an affordable way by facilitating all lower carbon energy processes. This includes the use of significant quantities of renewable or decarbonised gases as fuel for heating, power, industry and land and shipping transportation (methane and hydrogen).

 

GIE has set out its vision for Europe’s energy in its GIE Vision 2050, where it envisages the role of gas infrastructure to be invaluable in the energy transition - based on the three pillars infrastructure, integration and innovation. The vision paper can be viewed here.

 

GIE Members will continue to supply reliable, clean, affordable energy throughout the EU to 2050 and beyond. Significant cost savings will result from using the existing gas infrastructure to deliver and store increased quantities of renewable and decarbonised energy, rather than build new electricity networks.

 

The extensive gas system facilitates a fully developed EU energy market for all gases, which will be achieved soon, reaching comparable levels of market integration and price convergence for the benefit of all EU consumers. An integrated system approach to the development of gas infrastructure and electricity networks will optimise the delivery of energy to consumers and increase the ability to store renewable energy, far exceeding battery capacity and at much lower cost.

 

Gas infrastructure operators embrace the opportunities that the energy transition offers and will innovate the ways they operate and conduct business to achieve decarbonisation. Use of the gas infrastructure facilitates increased renewable energy storage through sector integration and sector coupling, enabling innovation for carbon-neutral methane to be produced for direct use or injection into the gas grid.

 

GIE President Jean-Marc Leroy is convinced that the GIE Vision 2050 is robust and sets the pathway for GIE members to allocate resources to being a key part of climate change solutions, stating, “I can see a significant shift in business towards lower carbon energy solutions in many EU states - the GIE Vision 2050 captures the goals of GIE members to be part of the solution for a decarbonised economy.”

 

GIE welcomes a new member Conexus Baltic Grid from Latvia. Conexus Baltic Grid was recently formed as part of unbundling the gas system and, as the operator of the only gas storage facility in the Baltic States, plays a key role in regional gas stability and is a cornerstone of security of supply. It also operates nearly 1,200 km of gas transmission pipelines and links Lithuania, Estonia and Russia.

 

Conexus Baltic Grid promotes sustainable energy delivery and has embraced the GIE Vision 2050, stating "We decided to join GIE as it offers us a truly Europe-wide voice and allows us to join with other operators in Europe to reduce long term emissions and be an essential part of the European economy. We value the progress that GIE makes in improving the regulatory and investment framework. GIE will definitely assist Conexus Baltic Grid specialists to realise smart and multi-faceted solutions for natural gas storage and transmission system operations and will connect us to the rest of Europe and connects us to the rest of Europe and assists us reach our own goals to operating in a safe, sustainable manner.”

 

GIE is further strengthened in its activities by the appointment of four new Board members and is pleased to welcome the following representatives from Gas Transmission Europe (GTE): Torben Brabo (Energinet, Denmark), Gaetano Mazzitelli (SNAM, Italy), Piotr Kuś (Gaz-System, Poland) and Harald Stindl (Gas Connect, Austria) who has assumed the role as President of GTE. 

GIE Secretary General, Boyana Achovski welcomes the developments in GIE, stating, “We are looking forward to further strengthening the work of GIE with the expertise and passion from the incoming directors and new member Conexus Baltic Grid, especially in this final year of preparation for the fourth Gas Package.”