UfM energy policy platform: Paving the way for integration of electricity and gas markets in the Mediterranean

Barcelona, 7-8 March 2016. Representatives from 20 UfM Member States and other regional stakeholders, including private sector and experts, gathered on 7-8 March at UfM Secretariat headquarters in Barcelona for the first meetings of the UfM Regional Electricity Market (REM) Platform and the UfM Gas Platform. Participants discussed the UfM Work Programme 2016-2017 and the activities to be undertaken by each platform in order to advance towards the gradual integration of electricity markets and the development of a Euro-Mediterranean gas market, under the principles of inclusiveness and variable geometry.

In order to address the important energy challenges facing the region, three UfM Energy Platforms were approved by the UfM Senior Officials and established in March 2015:

• The UfM Regional Electricity Market Platform (UfM REM Platform)
• The UfM Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Platform (UfM REEE Platform)
• The UfM Gas Platform (UfM Gas Platform)

The UfM REM Platform, launched in October 2015 in Rabat, aims to achieve a progressive integration of energy systems and energy markets in the Euro-Mediterranean region and, in particular, to enhance electricity exchanges and interconnections, in order to achieve a secure, affordable and sustainable electricity supply for the benefit of citizens and economies in the Euro-Mediterranean region.

The objective of the UfM Gas Platform, launched in May 2015 in Brussels, is to establish a regional structured dialogue allowing the progressive development of a Euro-Mediterranean gas market to promote security, transparency and predictability of both demand and supply in a manner that correctly and fairly balances the interests of producing and consuming countries, thus providing the basis for long term stability and secure development of the abundant reserves in the region.

During the UfM REM Platform meeting, Med-TSO, the Association of the Mediterranean Transmission System Operators, presented the results of its first year of work on the “Mediterranean Project”. The “Mediterranean Project”, funded by the European Union, seeks to achieve the progressive harmonization and strengthening of the electricity power systems in the Mediterranean region.

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