On 6 September 2016, the Industry Advisory Panel (IAP) of the Energy Charter held its third meeting of 2016 in Prague, the Czech Republic. The meeting was hosted by ČEZ (multinational electricity entity with operations in a number of countries in Central and Southeastern Europe and Turkey, headquartered in the Czech Republic). The main theme of the meeting was:
The Future of Electricity Sector
Removing Barriers and Attracting Investment
Europe’s electricity system is in a period of profound change. The question of new energy market design plays a crucial role in the European Union (EU) energy policy. This new market deal aims at creating a single well-functioning and competitive energy market in Europe to allow electricity to move freely to where it is most needed.
This IAP meeting addressed the latest political goals and the inevitable questions on how to tackle the consequent investment challenges, how to secure European industry’s competitiveness, what should be the energy mix for future, and how to provide the appropriate signals and incentives for the market actors. Achieving these goals will require the redesign of the European electricity market and removal of remaining obstacles for investors.
The meeting brought together senior representatives from electricity companies, chemical industry, renewable energy associations, transmission and distribution operators, financial institutions, nuclear energy generating companies, consultancy agencies and the representatives of the government of the Czech Republic.
The Industry Advisory Panel also validated the membership requests of MOL Group. Currently the IAP has members from 53 energy companies, international associations and institutions from 24 countries operating in fields like exploration, production, generation, transmission, distribution, finance, equipment, services, technology and consultancy.