 On May 15 – 16, 2013 USAID HIPP conducted the 2nd Cross-Border Electricity Trading Conference aimed at promoting private sector led development of the Georgian clean energy industry. By linking buyers and sellers of cross-border clean energy, HIPP hopes to enhance the potential for regional Electricity trade, thereby contributing to economic and social development, and energy security.
Specifically, the conference goals were to: 1) Facilitate business-to-business partnerships between HPP developers that have signed MOUs with the GOG and energy off-takers from Turkey, 2) Increase knowledge on the basics of electricity trading through a series of workshops, and 3) Explore technical issues related to regional electricity trading through presentations and panel discussions.
The Conference was opened by Deputy Chief of Mission for the US Embassy in Georgia, Ms. Bridget Brink, EU Ambassador in Georgia, Philip Dimitrov, and Minister of Energy of Georgia, Kakha Kaladze.
2nd Cross Border Electricity Trading Conference was attended by high level representatives of the Georgian and international energy stakeholders (MOE, GSE, ESCO, GNERC, MENR, USAID, KfW, EU Delegation, etc.), electricity sellers from Georgian power market including foreign direct investors, like Tatapower, Clean Energy, Akenerji and Trans Electrica Trading, and off takers from Europe, Turkey, as well as Georgia. More than 150 attendees represented 70 different organizations invited by USAID/HIPP.
The Presentations made at the Conference can also be found on www.hydropower.ge, under Information for Investors on the following link: http://hydropower.ge/eng/182
HIPP 2nd Cross Border Electricity Trading Conference participants acknowledged high importance of implementing GEMM 2015 as Turkey continues its rapid move toward full energy market liberalization and harmonization with the European Union, and therefore Georgia should also adopt many legislative and market-based reforms to keep pace with the regional developments and enable electricity producers benefit from trading in the Turkish and European electricity markets where electricity demand is quickly outstripping their ability to supply.
The Conference provided a golden opportunity for informal meetings and exchanging information between the government and business representatives from Georgia, Azerbaijani, Turkey, Bulgaria, France, other Western European countries, China, India, and many other countries. Multiple B2B meetings took place during the Conference. Conference participants highly appreciated USAID/HIPP’s efforts to build capacity of the energy stakeholders for promoting the development of competitive electricity market in Georgia and the whole region. |
