Opening the GIE Annual Conference 2018 today in Bucharest, Jean-Marc Leroy, President of Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE), talked about the role of Gas and Gas Infrastructures achieving Europe’s Energy Climate Goals.

Over 380 delegates met at the sixteenth GIE Annual Conference, gathering the industry, policymakers, regulators, financial investors, academics and other stakeholders.

Keynote speeches were addressed by the Minister of Economy of Romania Dănuţ Andruşcă, by Adina-Ioana Vălean, Chairwoman Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee in the European Parliament and the CEO of TRANSGAZ, the host of the conference, Ion Sterian.

Speakers at this year’s conference stressed the role of the gas infrastructure towards the Paris Agreement. Major issues related to the role of gas and gas infrastructure on the road to 2050 as well as the expected Gas Package 2020 were mentioned also in the keynote speech by Klaus-Dieter Borchardt, Director Internal Energy Market, European Commission.

Day One focuses in particular on the interconnections and projects in South-Eastern Europe, sector coupling and the role of the infrastructure on the road to a zero emissions economy. Day Two is expected to explore the expectations from the future regulations, the role of the LNG and the green gas as well as the energy mix in transport. As the previous edition of the conference the latest trends that make the decarbonisation of gas supply possible will be presented by young professionals in gas.

Jean-Marc Leroy said, "gas and gas infrastructure (transmission, storage and LNG terminals) have to play a key role in the energy transition process, allowing renewable energy sources to be integrated into our system and enabling a cost-efficient transition while simultaneously providing Europe’s energy system with the robustness to withstand also the coldest winters".

Ion Sterian pointed out that "we live in an ever-changing environment to which we have to adapt. GIE brings us all together on the same side. Together, we identify opportunities, prepare strategies, improve the current system and design the future one."

For more information about the conference and real-time information, please visit www.gie.eu and/or follow us on Twitter (@GIEBrussels, #GIEAC2018).

Note to Editors

Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) is an association representing the interests of European natural gas infrastructure operators active in natural gas transmission, storage and LNG regasification. GIE is a trusted partner of European institutions, regulatory bodies and industry stakeholders. It is based in Brussels, the heart of European policymaking.

GIE currently represents 68 member companies from 25 countries. Its internal structure has three columns corresponding to the three types of infrastructure activities represented: GTE (Gas Transmission Europe), GSE (Gas Storage Europe) and GLE (Gas LNG Europe), all of which fall under the umbrella of GIE. This structure allows member companies to speak with one voice on infrastructure topics as well as to build positions on column-specific issues.
To find out more about GIE’s structure and activities, please visit our website at www.gie.eu.

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