USEA Upcoming Events

February 5, 2015: USAID/USEA Southeast Europe Distribution System Operator (DSO) Security of Supply Working Group Meeting Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

February 6, 2015: USAID/USEA Southeast Europe Cooperation Initiative Transmission System Planning Project (SECI) Working Group Meeting Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

March 2015: USAID/USEA Black Sea Regional Transmission System Planning (BSTP) Project Working Group Meeting Bucharest, Romania

World Bank to allocate 163 mln dollars to fund Albania's infrastructure – (Global Post) The World Bank will allocate 163 million U.S. dollars for Albania to develop its infrastructure, the Albanian Daily News reported on Tuesday.  According to the report, the fund will be given to the Balkan country only if those projects it presented to the World Bank (WB) meet the requirements of the global body…

Albania takes over the chair of Energy Community Secretariat for 2015 – (IIA) Energy Community organization announced that Albania will head Community’s Secretariat for 2015, as being a contracting party of the Treaty since July 1, 2006. Almost all European countries are members of Energy Community Treaty for the purpose of implementing policies that provide a liberalized market toward member countries…

Albania seeks investments from US in energy, mining – (dtt-net) Albanian government called today for more investments from US companies in energy and mining sector…

US Ambassador Guaranteeing US Support for TAP Project in Albania – (Energetika) “The reform of the energy sector is a difficult one and requires time in order for it to be fully effective,” Gjiknuri explained to Lu. He added that government projects aim to restore the energy sector by 2018…

Albanian Minister: Reforms in Energy Sector Already Showing Positive Upturn – (Energetika) As we previously reported HERE, the Albanian energy sector was facing bankruptcy, but according to Gjiknuri the imposed reforms are already showing a positive upturn. Read also ‘Albanian Government Gives Green...

Bulgaria

Bulgaria’s energy watchdog to be heard at parliament – (Focus) Parliamentary Committee on Supervision of the State Committee on Energy and Water Regulation (SEWRC) with the 43rd National Assembly is to hear the regulator and discuss its report on the license revoking procedure against the district power distribution companies…

Bulgarian govt adopts National Programme for Energy Renovation of Multi-family Residential Buildings – (Focus) Bulgarian government approved the National Programme for Energy Renovation of Multi-family Residential Buildings, the press office of the Council of Ministers announced. Requirements for granting financial assistance under the programme were approved and bodies for implementing the programme were determined…

Bulgaria to keep fracking moratorium – (Shale Energy) Bulgaria is set to keep its fracking moratorium in place for the foreseeable future according to the country’s Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, but he is hopeful that alternative extraction methods to hydraulic fracturing may be developed to allow the development of Bulgaria’s shale industry…

Bulgaria's Energy Watchdog Foresees Power Price Hike in 2015 – (Novinite) The Chair of the State Commission for Energy and Water Regulation (DKEVR) Svetla Todorova announced that an increase in the price of electricity was unavoidable during the year.  Todorova assured that the anticipated hike will not happen in April, but she specified neither a concrete date nor the amount by which the price will increase, daily Dnevnik reports…

Energy Efficiency Projects Have Boosted Bulgarian Economy – Minister – (Novinite) Bulgaria's Environment Minister Ivelina Vasileva announced on Wednesday that BGN 13 M will be added to the national budget in 2015 from payments received by the National Trust Eco Fund…

Bulgaria approves energy programme aimed at cutting heating costs – (Reuters) Bulgaria, ranked bottom in Europe in terms of energy efficiency, approved on Wednesday a programme for the renovation of multi-family residential buildings in an attempt to cut the heating costs of households…

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Federation BiH to Produce 9,459.6 GWh of Electricity in 2015 – (Energetika) According to the energy balance sheet for 2015, the planned total production of electricity is 9,459.6 GWh, while the planned total electricity consumption amounts to 9,279.9 GWh. This power balance sheet…

Croatia

Croatia pulls plug on PV licenses – (PV Magazine) Croatia’s energy market operator has confirmed that it will not provide new licenses in 2015 for solar projects, leaving the PV future in this sunny country looking depressingly cloudy…

Croatia's HEP eyes renewable energy projects under development – (Reuters) Croatia's HEP state power board said on Friday it was looking to acquire renewable energy projects already under development and had invited developers to indicate their interest…

Croatia's HEP seeks to acquire renewable energy projects under development – (SeeNews Renewables) Croatian state-owned power utility HEP said on Friday it is exploring possibilities for the acquisition of domestic renewable energy projects currently under preliminary development…

Kosovo

The Challenges for Energy Community in 2015 – (Energy Community) Without doubt, the highest number of discussions this year will be focusing on the changes to the Treaty establishing the Energy Community proposed by a group led by former President of the European Parliament…

Kosovo's Ministry to Evaluate Financial Offer for Kosova e Re TPP – (Energetika) Energetika.NET reported recently that Kosovo's Ministry of Economic Development, which chairs the Project Steering Committee (PSC) for the Kosova e Re TPP, has received one bid for the construction of this plan...

Macedonia

EU’s energy body warns Macedonia for refusing to liberalize electricity market – (dtt-net) The European Energy Community warned the EU candidate, Macedonia, for postponing until 2020 the electricity market liberalization…

Secretariat opens dispute settlement case against Macedonia for postponing market opening – (Energy Community) Today the Secretariat sent an Opening Letter to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia for its failure to comply with the Energy Community’s eligibility rules by postponing full opening of the electricity market. The Energy Community Treaty sets 1 January 2008 as the implementation deadline for market opening for non-household customers and 1 January 2015 for all customers including households. The postponement until 2020 of full market liberalisation represents a severe breach of the Treaty…

Montenegro

Secretariat seeks stakeholder views on options for the Energy Community for the Future – (Energy Community) In its final report “An Energy Community for the Future”, the High Level Reflection Group concluded that the Energy Community’s ambitious goals cannot be met without reforming the organisation’s legal, procedural and institutional set-up and proposed how these shortcomings could be rectified. The public consultation, launched today, seeks stakeholder views on how these recommendations could be brought to life by providing several implementation options…

Montenegro: CGES Gets Permit for Reconstruction of Transformer Station in Nikšić – (Energetika) The reconstruction of the transformer station comprises the replacement of the 110/35 power transformer, and the construction of a 35kV cable channel for the transmission of power from distribution transformers...

Montenegrin Households Owe EUR 140 Million to EPCG – (Energetika) “December's bills, that were issued at the beginning of January, have been paid by more than 40% of consumers,” Ana Ivanović Dedović said, as quoted by Biznis.ba portal. Also, many more customers took the…

Romania

Five firms interested to build Romanian hydro power plant – (Reuters) Five companies have filed preliminary, non-binding bids to build a 1,000 megawatt hydro power plant at Tarnita in Romania, the state-owned project company Hidro Tarnita said on Friday…

Power demand in Romania seen almost flat by 2025 - A.T. Kearney – (ACT Media) Electricity demand in Romania is expected to grow by less than 1% per year until 2025, unless the government takes a proactive approach to encourage consumption, a study by global consultancy A.T. Kearney has indicated…

Change of Politics towards Shale Gas in Bulgaria, in Romania Exploration Still Pending – (Energetika) In Bulgaria current suppliers against shale gas extraction Borissov broke the news at the annual forum of the American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria. He has, however, welcomed a possible public debate…

Slovakia Proposes Gas Interconnection to Romania and Bulgaria – (Novinite) Slovakia's gas pipeline operator Eurostream is proposing to Bulgaria and Romania to build an interconnection to reduce their dependence on Russian gas supplies, Reuters has reported…

Serbia

Consortium Begins Construction of a Wind Farm in Northwestern Serbia – (IENE) MK Fintel Wind, a joint venture of the Italian public enterprise Fintel Energia Spa and Serbia's MK Group, announced on Tuesday that it has begun the construction of a wind farm near Kula, northwestern Serbia, with installed capacity of 9.9 megawatts, and the works are expected to be completed by the end of October…

Romanian Energy Minister: 400-kV Romania-Serbia Line to be Completed in 2015 – (Energetika) Last year, the electricity production in Romania grew by approximately 11% year-on-year, which meant a considerable growth in the export of electricity, with average values of 230 to 813 MW. At the national…

Serbian Gas Company Srbijagas to Raise Gas Price by 13% as of March – (Energetika) Srbijagas explained that the prices would rise due to a 16.8% rise in the Dollar exchange rate since the last price change. The Energy Agency of the Republic of Serbia (AERS) confirmed the decision at the…

Armenia

Heating Armenia the Sustainable Way – (The Armenian Weekly) This is the last installment in a six-part series I’ve written as a volunteer with the Armenian Environmental Network in Yerevan. The goal of this project was to bring to light some of the exciting work of environmental organizations in Armenia. The country currently faces many significant environmental challenges, from deforestation and mining to conservation issues and pollution. But in visiting the organizations featured here, I’ve found a community of strong, motivated, passionate individuals committed to fighting for Armenia’s environmental future…

Public services regulator approves Gazprom Armenia investment program – (ARKA) Armenia’s Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC) approved at its Wednesday’s meeting the investment program of Gazprom Armenia, worth 301.2 million drams, for maintenance and modernization of the fifth power unit at Hrazdan thermal power plant in 2015…

Azerbaijan

Tech-committee in alternative energy sector to appear in Azerbaijan – (Azernews) Creation of a technical committee in charge of alternative energy sources is under development in energy-rich Azerbaijan.  The State Committee on Standardization, Metrology and Patents is pushing forward the initiative.  At present, the Committee and the Azerbaijan State Agency on Alternative and Renewable Energy Sources are working together to establish the committee…

Azerbaijan creates Technological Committee on alternative energy sources – (Vestnik Kavkaza) The Azerbaijani authorities are thinking of establishing a Technical Committee on alternative energy sources, the State Committee on Standardization, Metrology and Patents informs.  Currently, the State Committee and the State Agency on Alternative and Renewable Energy Sources are working together to create a Technical Committee, Trend reports…

In January electricity generation in Azerbaijan reached a peak since 2010 – (ABC.AZ) JSC Azerenerji, Azerbaijan’s national energy producer, increased electricity generation in January compared to December 2014.  Azerenerji press service with reference to the Company’s Central Dispatching Office reports that this January it was generated 2.3 bn kWh of electricity. It has become the best monthly indicator since 2010…

INOGATE to develop electricity market between Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey – (News.Az) This is stated in the report on the INOGATE Programme website, 1news.az reports.  "Azerenergy" (Azerbaijan), "Georgian State Electricity System" (Georgia) and Turkish company "TEIAS" are invited to take part in such a dialogue over the next six months. Turkey participates in the project as an observer…

Azerbaijan's role as alternative gas supplier grows – (Azernews) The role of Azerbaijan as an alternative supplier of gas to European markets grows, the research assistant of the Center for the Study of Central Asia and Caucasus of the Institute of Oriental Studies (Moscow) Stanislav Pritchin told Trend…

Turkey, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan discuss cooperation on energy – (Today’s Zaman) Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has said he discussed energy cooperation with his Azerbaijani and Turkmen counterparts during the second trilateral foreign ministers' meeting, held in Ashgabat on Thursday…

Azerbaijan’s contribution to Europe’s energy security under spotlight – (Azernews) Samad Seyidov, head of the Azerbaijani delegation to Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe met with the U.S. vice-president in Washington.  Seyidov took part in the conference of the Atlantic Council, which is one of the most influential analytical centers entitled “Transatlantic Strategy for Eastern Europe” on January 29, the Azerbaijani embassy in the U.S. told Trend…

Azerbaijan Looks to Grow Energy Exports to EU – (SRR) Amidst worsening relations with Russia over Ukraine and unsettled by Russia’s dominance, the European Union is seeking ways to lessen its energy dependence on its giant eastern neighbor…

Georgia

Ukraine plans to use Georgia's experience to secure country's energy independence – (Interfax-Ukraine) Energy and Coal Industry Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Demchyshyn is confident that Georgia's experience could help the country in its efforts to become energy independent.  "Recently Georgia passed the way foreseeing energy and political independence. The process is going on in Ukraine," Demchyshyn told reporters after a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Energy Minister of Georgia Kakha Kaladze in Kyiv on Saturday…

Georgia's Economy and Energy Ministers depart for Ukraine – (Agenda.GE) Georgia's Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Giorgi Kvirikashvili and the country's Minister of Energy Kakha Kaladze are departing for Ukraine today for a business visit. Bilateral meetings with representatives of the Ukrainian government, including Ukrainian Minister of Economic Development Aivaras Abramovicius and Minister of Energy and Coal Industry Volodymyr Demchyshyn will be held within the visit, stated the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development…

Georgian port of Batumi oil loadings down 7.5 pct in January – (Hellenic Shipping News) Crude oil and refined oil product shipments from Georgia’s Black Sea port of Batumi fell 7.5 percent in January from a year earlier, a senior official at the terminal said on Monday…

Underground gas storage facility will be built in Georgia in 2016 – (Vestnik Kavkaza) A feasibility study into an underground gas storage project in Georgia will be ready by the end of 2015, and its construction is scheduled to begin in 2016.  The Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation held a meeting with companies wishing to participate in the tender for the preparation of a feasibility study on the subject. The tender was announced on January 14, the deadline for applications and documents expires on February 26th…

Moldova

Energy and Biomass project, II phase, has presented its main activities to the national implementation partners – (AEE) 80 new biomass boilers installed in public institutions, 250 biomass boilers offered to the households at a subsidized price, 7 new models of Public-Private partnerships launched at district level for green energy delivery”, these are few of the expected outcomes of the Energy and Biomass Project, second phase of activity, presented during a meeting that brought together national implementation partners, held on 29 January 2015…

Turkey

Energy & Infrastructure Forecast 2015, Risks and Opportunities – (Turkish Weekly) Now is the time for the traditional annual forecast of our local energy markets for the new year of 2015. Here it is important to note that economies and businesses are always shaped by expectations. In this way, market expectations are crucial for economic forecasts…

EU: Turkey ready to start energy talks – (Turkish Press) The European Union believes that Turkey is “sufficiently prepared” to start membership negotiations under chapter 15 on energy, a European Commission official said on Wednesday.  The comments follow Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s January tour of several EU capitals including Brussels, where he said that the government would focus on the EU membership process throughout the year…

EU energy chief says Moscow's new gas route legally flawed – (Reuters) Russia's proposal to pump gas to the Turkish-Greek border and from 2019 to cease using Ukraine as its main energy transit route to Europe is in breach of legally binding contracts and is economically flawed, the EU's energy chief said on Wednesday.  At the start of December, Russia announced it was scrapping its South Stream pipeline to carry gas to southern Europe and instead named Turkey as its preferred partner for an alternative route named Turkish Stream…

Design of Russia-Turkey gas pipeline begins: Envoy – (Hurriyet Daily News) Turkey’s ambassador to Russia has announced that the design of a natural gas pipeline from Russia to Turkey is under way.  The move marks the technical launch of the Turkish Stream Project announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Dec. 1 during his official state visit to Turkey…

Talks on technical implementation of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline have started between Russia and Turkey – (Sputnik) Moscow and Ankara have begun technical implementation for the so-called Turkish Stream gas pipeline, Turkish Ambassador to Russia Umit Yardim said Tuesday.  The Turkish Stream pipeline will deliver Russian gas to Turkey and customers in Southern Europe by means of a transit hub on the Turkish-Greek border…

Energy: Turkey's gas imports to reach 52.2 bln cubic meters – (ANSAmed) Turkey's natural gas imports for 2015 are projected to reach 52.2 billion cubic meters, an increase of 9.6% compared with last year, Anadolu Agency reports quoting sources from Turkey's Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources. Gas consumption has been increasing continuously in Turkey because of the country's developing economy, industry and increasing population, and Turkey imported 47.6 billion cubic meters, bcm, in 2014…

Russia's Gazprom says Jan exports to Europe, Turkey reach 11.1 bcm – (Reuters) Russian gas exports to Europe and Turkey reached 11.1 billion cubic metres in January, an official at Russian gas producer Gazprom told Reuters on Wednesday.  Gazprom's exports to Europe and Turkey reached 147.2 billion cubic metres last year…

Ukraine

A Silver Lining Coated in Coal Dust in Eastern Ukraine – (The New York Times) Outside Vladimir Moroz’s snug little brick home, winter and hardship grip war-stricken eastern Ukraine. Money is scarce, the store shelves are bare and an icy wind whips over the snowy steppe.  Inside, a retired miner smiles broadly. He peels off his gloves and flexes his cold-stiffened hands over a stove and his prized, glowing, once-illicit source of warmth: backyard coal dug from dangerous, unregulated mines…

Hostilities halt coal supply to Vuhlehirsk thermal power plant – (Kyiv Post) The Vuhlehirsk thermal power plant, a business unit of the Centerenergo power generating company, has been unable to receive coal for eight days, Ukrainian First Deputy Energy and Coal Industry Minister Yuriy Ziukov said…

Quentin Boulanger: Russia will use electricity as weapon unless Ukraine hikes efficiency – (Kyiv Post) In the midst of concerns over natural gas supplies, the risk that weighs on electricity security is not receiving as much attention as it deserves. Reduction of coal production in the Donbass region affected electricity production…

Why Russia’s Grip on Europe’s Gas Markets Is Weakening – (The Wall Street Journal) The collapse of oil prices—added to the weight of Western financial sanctions—has hammered Russia’s economy. But Moscow is also suffering from the fall in prices of another important energy export: natural gas…

Russia's Gazprom says Ukraine pays $107 mln in additional gas payments – (Reuters) Russia's Gazprom said on Tuesday that it had received $107.14 million from Ukraine's state energy firm Naftogaz for February gas deliveries.  Gazprom said in a statement that the payment suggests that Ukraine had paid for about 715 million…

Ukraine will have to reform system of energy tariffs in 2015 – Yatseniuk – (Interfax-Ukraine) Ukraine will have to reform the system of energy tariffs in 2015, Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatseniuk has said at a meeting of the National Council of Reforms in Kyiv.  "This year we need to adopt a law on the natural gas market and, in particular, reform the entire system of tariffs, provide social minimum assistance from the national budget to all categories of people who need it," he said…

Ukraine plans modernisation of thermal power stations – (SETimes) Ukrainian authorities plan to retool the country's power stations with new equipment that will allow them to become more versatile, thereby increasing domestic energy production.  Poland has proposed to assist Ukraine in the implementation of the project. A statement issued by President Petro Poroshenko's office said Poland's Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz…

Ukraine Gas Deadline Heightens Threat of Shrinking Storage – (Bloomberg Business) (Bloomberg) -- With less than two months before Ukraine’s Russian gas-supply agreement ends, analysts are warning of critically low storage that would threaten all of Europe.  There’s been little progress on a new deal before the March 31 expiry, with Russia saying it will revert to a standard contract based on disputed prices that won’t be reviewed by international arbitrators until 2016…

Ukraine ready to resume monitoring of Russian gas transit to EU, says energy minister – (Kyiv Post) Ukraine supports the initiative of the European Union on resumption of the natural gas monitoring and the country is ready to receive a group of international experts arriving to Kyiv on Jan. 30, Energy and Coal Industry Minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn said at a meting with Polish, Slovakian, Czech, Hungarian, German and EU ambassadors…

Students have longer winter holidays to save energy – (Kyiv Post) Ukraine's desire to lessen its dependence on natural gas from Russia, which has been waging a year-long war against the nation, has prompted the government to save energy in any way possible. One initiative prolongs the winter breaks of university and high school students to cut down on heating bills in the thousands of university buildings around the nation…

Some 1,000 miners protesting at Ukrainian government building – Report – (Coal Guru) It is reported that at least 1,000 people are taking part in a miners’ protest action at the Ukrainian government building in the capital Kiev. Workers from the Lviv and Volyn regions in the west of Ukraine are taking part in the rally…

Ukraine coal miners demand gov't pay wages – (CCTV) Staying in Ukraine. Hundreds of coal miners are rallying outside the government building in Kiev. They're demanding payment of their delayed wages, some of which have been withheld for nearly half a year…

Coal miners converge on Ukraine cabinet to demand support for industry – (Ukrainian Journal) Around 300 miners came to the Ukrainian cabinet building on Wednesday to demand support for the coal mining industry and social guarantees to miners.  The protesters demand changes to the law On the State Budget of Ukraine for 2015 by including in it funds for capital support of mining enterprises, capital construction, technical modernization, and labor protection…

Ukraine's Donetsk plans to raise coal production by 13pct in 2015 – (Coal Guru) It is reported that Ukraine's eastern self-proclaimed Donetsk republic plans to raise its coal production by 13% in 2015.  This decision was made at a joint meeting of the Coal and Energy Ministry with the republican coal-mining companies on Tuesday…

Ukraine’s Energorynok seeks USD 63m loan – (SeeNews) Ukraine’s wholesale energy market operator Energorynok seeks to borrow a revolving credit line with a size of UAH 1 billion (USD 62.7m/EUR 55.5m), the company said on Monday…

This program is made possible by the support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents are the responsibility of the United States Energy Association and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.