The Energy Community Secretariat under the EU4Energy Governance Project organised a two-day workshop in Kyiv, Ukraine, on 30-31 October. The aim is to help the six Eastern Partner countries – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine – to improve their energy infrastructure planning. The event brought together representatives of all six countries, including from regulatory agencies, ministries and transmission system operators.
The Energy Community experts presented best practices in infrastructure planning, including the identification of priority projects, the role of regulators in investment planning, risk assessment and tariff setting, as well as long-term infrastructure plans based on the EU’s experience of Ten-Year Network Development Plans under the Third Energy Package.
The participants also discussed the methodology for the identification of so-called ‘Projects of Eastern Partnership Interest’ (PEPIs). The methodology, developed under EU4Energy technical assistance, covers projects of cross-border relevance in Eastern Partner countries that are not members of the Energy Community (Armenia, Azerbaijan and Belarus), and projects connecting Energy Community Contracting Parties with Eastern Partner countries (e.g. Ukraine with Belarus and Georgia with Armenia). Derived from Regulation 347/2013 on guidelines for trans-European energy infrastructure, the PEPI methodology was adapted to fit the specific circumstances and needs of these countries.
