Vertical Corridor expansion gains momentum

The gathering successful Athens betwixt the ministers of Greece, Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Serbia, with the information of the applicable TSOs, marks the advancement of plans to grow the Vertical Corridor crossed the region.

According to sources from the Greek Ministry of Environment and Energy that spoke to “N”, the gathering aims to service arsenic the archetypal step toward broadening the Vertical Corridor passim the Balkans, successful enactment with and complementary to the infrastructure projects presently being developed among the participating countries.

It is recalled that operation of the Greece–North Macedonia interconnector pipeline is already underway and is expected to beryllium completed and go operational successful 2027, while akin plans are being examined for the interconnection betwixt North Macedonia and Serbia.

According to sources noted, the engagement — and adjacent much importantly, the committedness — of the two caller countries to the Vertical Corridor inaugural alongside Greece and Bulgaria upgrades the region’s infrastructure network, creating a backbone of pipelines and transmission routes that further enhances coordination among neighboring states, with the ultimate nonsubjective of ensuring the uninterrupted travel of LNG passim the region.

“In essence, a dense web of interconnections is being created, with neighboring states coordinated and operating successful a complementary manner,” sources noted, successful opposition to the existent model, where parallel south-to-north flows beryllium without the quality to make synergies.

Emphasis connected Synergies

Energy Minister Stavros Papastavrou, speaking astatine the “Energy Transition Summit: East Med & Southeast Europe” league organized by the Financial Times successful practice with Kathimerini, referred to a “change successful culture,” with the participating states present recognizing acold much intelligibly the strategic magnitude of the task known arsenic the “Vertical Corridor.”

More specifically, when asked astir the Vertical Corridor, the curate stressed that “it is something acold beyond an economical dimension. It has a transformational impact. For our region, this represents a historical paradigm displacement — a alteration successful culture. We grew up within a past that separated us. A past of wars and, astatine times, a past of part betwixt East and West. And present each the ministers of these countries are emphasizing however inextricably linked we are.”

He besides added that “this is simply a colossal paradigm displacement for the region. We were not taught to cooperate. And vigor has this unique magnitude — it brings us together.”