The eighth meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council was held in Baku (Azerbaijan) on February 4 at a difficult time due to the current global energy crisis.
On behalf of Enagás, the meeting was attended by the Enagás International General Manager, Jesús Saldaña, and the Special Projects Manager, Fernando López de Silanes, in their capacity as directors of Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), an infrastructure that is part of the Southern Gas Corridor.
The Southern Gas Corridor plays a key strategic role in ensuring a secure, stable and diversified supply to Europe, thereby increasing market liquidity and price competitiveness. For all these reasons, a possible extension of the corridor to new markets, such as the Western Balkans, is being considered.
Natural gas as a transition fuel
The EU Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, was present at the meeting where she stressed the importance of supply diversification, especially in the current context of geopolitical tensions and rising energy prices. In this regard, she stressed the need to reduce the dependence of European countries and to have different sources of supply. Simson also pointed out that natural gas will play a key role in the coming years, while work is under way to implement hydrogen and other renewable gas solutions. It is estimated that natural gas will account for 22% of the European energy mix in 2030, she said.
