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The cooperation of the EU-MED 9 countries for the development of the Mediterranean as a Green Energy Hub, was agreed today, at their first joint meeting held in Valletta, Malta, by the Energy Ministers of Cyprus, France, Greece, Spain, Italy, Italy, Croatia, Malta, Portugal and Slovenia.
In his interventions during the meeting, the Minister of Energy, Trade and Industry, Mr. George Papanastasiou, stressed, inter alia, that, as the current energy crisis has shown, the dependence of countries on one or a few energy sources should be avoided in the future. Moreover, he explained, given the instability in the prices of conventional fuels, a shift to Renewable Energy Sources is now required, with Cyprus, which remains energy isolated, having also set as a priority the interconnection of the island with the energy networks of neighbouring countries such as Greece, Israel and Egypt. At the same time, Papanastasiou added, in order to increase the contribution of renewable energy sources to Cyprus' energy mix, the country is upgrading its electricity transmission and distribution networks and installing energy storage systems.
The first EU-MED 9 Energy Ministers' Meeting, which was also attended by European Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson, concluded with Joint Ministerial Statement, which records the commitment of the nine Mediterranean EU Member States to continue efforts to enhance energy security, ensure affordable energy prices and accelerate the transition to green energy on the basis of the EU's climate neutrality objective by 2050.
Among other things, the Ministers also agreed to establish an Advisory Committee to achieve the targets set, to create a joint platform for dialogue on energy and energy interconnections, to jointly finance cross-border projects with available European funds and to prioritise investments both for the development of renewable energy sources such as offshore wind and floating photovoltaic systems, and for the production and transport of green hydrogen through new interconnections. At the same time, it was decided to invite the European Commission to explore the possibility of enhanced funding for energy interconnections between Member States and third countries and to carry out a comprehensive study on the potential of the Mediterranean as a corridor for the transfer of green energy and hydrogen to the EU and third countries.
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