During the Ministerial Meeting of Central and Southern Europe for Energy Interconnectivity in Athens, two of the most important issues the European energy sector is facing were discussed. Decarbonization and Energy Security. Of course, Albania has no worries regarding decarbonization, and according to Eurostat data from last week, Albania is the third country in the world, after Sweden and Finland, in terms of the use of renewable energy, making it a champion in this field.
On the other hand, it has to be said that during this ministerial meeting, all the regulatory measures that need to be taken with the support of the Energy Secretariat, which is located in Vienna, were discussed, but above all, Commissioner Simpson also discussed the ways in which the European Union will try to promote all these initiatives, starting from renewable energy, to nuclear energy, to gas, obviously a very important energy sector that has to do with energy security, especially after the Russian aggression in Ukraine.
Katherine Simpson said that the good work done by the countries of Southeast Europe in terms of the whole regulatory framework, in terms of new initiatives, should continue. And on the other hand, the European Union will be there to support all countries through financial instruments.
I presented, as we do every time, all the achievements of the Republic of Albania in the field of energy, especially in 2023, we had a number of them. Just a week ago, the year 2024 started with an important step in terms of resource diversification and I shared with all my colleagues how Albania has already engaged 1 gigawatt in renewable energy through transparent auctions that we are implementing in our country, of course with the support of our partners from the European Union or even European banks.
We also discussed what is very important: these capacities, increasing day by day, need interconnection that reaches new levels. Albania has started to work on the energy interconnection project with North Macedonia. On the other hand, Albania is working closely to start the project with Greece to double the transmission line, and in the meantime, I have also shared with my colleagues the good news that the Albanian Transmission Operator, together with the Italian Transmission Operator, is starting a feasibility study on the underwater line that will connect Albania and Italy.
Hearing all the future plans, and hearing about the commitment of the Greek side in terms of interconnection lines to connect Greece with Cyprus and then with Israel, Greece with Saudi Arabia, or Greece in other countries, I am confident that through this regional cooperation, we will also benefit from the projects that are being developed in neighboring countries.
Other initiatives to be undertaken during 2024 were discussed, but of course, a priority remains the legal approximations that all states that aspire to be members of the European Union must fulfill in the coming months. Of course, Albania is always an example to follow in the field of energy, and this was also the case in this ministerial meeting.