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By Trend

The Energy Community Secretariat (EnCS) will focus on assisting Georgia’s renewable energy sector, electricity market and energy efficiency in 2022, Svitlana Karpyshyna, Head of the Eastern Partnership Assistance Unit at the EnCS, told Trend.

According to Karpyshyna, this year the EnCS will monitor the transposition and implementation of EU and Energy Community acquis in Georgia, and organize workshops, events, and capacity building exercises in the country.

“The mandate of the EnCS is to help Georgia and the other Contracting Parties to implement reforms in the energy sector and in the energy-related environment and climate areas,” she said.

The main focus of the EnCS’s cooperation in Georgia in 2022 will be the transposition of the Clean Energy for all Europeans package adopted by the Energy Community Ministerial Council at its meeting in Belgrade on November 30, 2021, Karpyshyna added.

As she explained, the package covers legislation in the area of energy efficiency, renewables, governance, electricity market design, and electricity and gas security of supply rules, to enter into force in the next years.

The EnCS has already proposed to the Georgian side that it can support the transposition and implementation of this package, Karpyshyna said.

Further speaking, she noted that the (EnCS), within the EU4Energy project, assisted Georgia in the implementation of structural reforms in 2021.

According to Karpyshyna, EnCS assisted Georgian authorities in the development of appropriate primary and secondary legislation for the transposition of the major EU directives and regulations.

Among the implemented initiatives, EnCS also held 9 capacity-building events, where 53 officials were trained, Karpyshyna said.

Other projects included draft rules for issuing a certificate of origin of electricity obtained from renewable sources, and a report on minimum internal operating rules and obligations to ensure the safety of the gas network with recommendations, she added.

The EnCS significantly supported Georgia’s gas sector by preparing two drafts on Rules on the Security of Natural Gas Supply, and Resolution of the Government of Georgia on Imposing Specific Obligations on Suppliers for Ensuring Natural Gas Supply as a Public Service Obligation, Karpyshyna said.

By signing the Association Agreement, including the Deep Comprehensive Free Trade Area (AA/DCFTA) in 2014, and the Energy Community Treaty (EnCT) in 2017, Georgia undertook commitments to implement the core acquis in the area of energy. To support Georgia the EU launched the EU4Energy program in 2016, she noted.

The Head of the Eastern Partnership Assistance Unit at the EnCS also said that the Secretariat is willing to assist Georgia’s gas sector development through a new cooperation platform.

As Karpyshyna explained, South-East European Gas (SEEGAS) Initiative is a relatively new cooperation platform between national gas exchanges and transmission system operators in the region aimed at enabling further market opening, better services for traders and ultimately benefit end-consumers through increased competition in gas trading.

“The newly established LLC Georgian Gas Exchange (GGEX) and LLC Georgian Gas Transportation Company (GGTC) joined the SEEGAS process in November 2021 and started participating in the Joint Steering Committee meetings,” Karpyshyna said.

Earlier in July 2021 the Memorandum of Understanding on the establishment of commodity exchange to support the liberalization and digitalization of the energy market was signed between the EnCS, Georgia’s Ministry of Economy, the EBRD, GGTC, and Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation (GOGC).

“Under this format EnCS, GGEX, GGTC and GOGC will meet regularly to discuss further steps towards the development of the gas exchange,” Karpyshyna concluded.

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