Resends to clarify headline
The US plans to support expanding natural gas pipeline infrastructure in southeast Europe.
The US Energy Association (USEA) — which brings together energy-related organisations, companies and government agencies, and represents the US on the World Energy Council — and US government development agency USAid launched a partnership with several southeast European countries aimed at transmission system development in the region. The countries signed an agreement to co-operate on network development and infrastructure planning with support from USAid.
The signatories — the system operators of Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia and Montenegro — agreed to build network models and share data, equipment information and other technical details. The USEA will provide modelling software and training to the system operators and oversee management of the models.
Modelling will be used to map existing infrastructure and forecast future system requirements, USEA said. The partnership will "spur investment in the region" and develop "liquid wholesale markets", USEA senior director for Europe and Eurasia Will Polen said.
The results of the modelling could be shared with ministries, regulators and international investment agencies to encourage further spending on developing gas infrastructure, the association said. Gas could serve as an anchor fuel for power generation in the region and its expansion could be examined through the partnership, Polen said.
Romanian and Serbian officials attended the meeting and could sign at a later date, the USEA said.
