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On 3 November, Presidents of national energy Regulatory Authorities from around the Mediterranean region gathered virtually to discuss about the growing importance of hydrogen in the transition to sustainable gas markets, and about their role as regulators in promoting sustainable energy sources towards the energy transition.

Green hydrogen is benefiting from unprecedented political and business momentum, with related policies and projects expanding rapidly around the world. With today’s workshop enriched by the industry’s contribution, MEDREG regulators' Presidents saught to understand the technological and economic challenges that this clean energy source implies on the gas market, and start thinking of support mechanisms and initiatives able to overcome these challenges, therefore facilitating the green transition at the national and the regional levels.

The National Electricity Regulatory Authority (ANRE) hosted a meeting on July 6, 2021, at its headquarters in Rabat to formally launch the various projects dictated by Law 48.15, with a delegation from the National Office of Electricity and Drinking Water (ONEE) led by its General Director, Mr. Abderrahim EL HAFIDI.

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The Council of European Energy Regulators (CEER), the Energy Community Regulatory Board (ECRB) and the Association of Mediterranean Energy Regulators (MEDREG) held their 3rd Trilateral Workshop on regulatory means to foster active customer engagement, on 26 and 27 May in online format.

On 15 April 2021, the Energy Community Regulatory Board (ECRB) and the Association of Mediterranean Energy Regulators (MEDREG) held a joint virtual workshop in order to exchange expertise and implementation practices in MEDREG and ECRB member countries on the challenges and opportunities in deploying renewable energy sources into electricity networks. Joint workshops are part of the well-established cooperation between ECRB and MEDREG since 2014, aiming at harmonising regulatory rules across the Mediterranean, East European and Black Sea regions. Joined by transmission system operators from the ECRB and MEDREG regions, the regulators exchanged best practices in dealing with the challenges that electricity generation from decentralised renewable sources bring to the system and its operation.

Gathered online today for their 30th General Assembly meeting, MEDREG Members have elected their new President for the next two years: Mr. Petrit Ahmeti, Chairman of the Board of the Albanian Energy Regulator (ERE). Mr. Ahmeti served as MEDREG Vice President in his former mandate. He has also been a long-time member of MEDREG Working Groups, being fully engaged in the Association’s priorities and challenges. Three Vice-Presidents will support the new President: Eng. Abdellatif Bardach, President of the Moroccan Electricity Regulator (ANRE) and Eng. Karem Mahmoud, CEO of the Egyptian Gas Regulatory Authority (GASREG), joined the Permanent Vice-President Mr. Stefano Besseghini, President of the Italian Regulatory Authority for Energy, Networks and Environment (ARERA). Along with the election of the Presidency Board, the 30th General Assembly was also the occasion to elect the new Working Groups’ Chairmanship.

The Council of the Moroccan Electricity Regulator ANRE held its 1st meeting under the chairmanship of Mr. Abdellatif Bardach on 21 October 2020. During the meeting, the Board examined and approved decisions and documents including the strategic roadmap 2021-2025 of the Authority. The institution of ANRE is part of a process of reorganization, modernization and progressive liberalization of the electricity sector, supported by the Kingdom of Morocco. In this context, ANRE comes to assist this process to support the economic and social development of the Kingdom as well, as to meet its growing electricity needs in a sustainable way

The Moroccan Electricity Regulator ANRE welcomes the appointment of its ten Members of the Council, who will join the President of the Regulator, M. Abdellatif Bardach, in his duties. Following this important step, the ANRE Council will hold its first meeting in September 2020 to officially start its activities. ANRE is tasked with guiding the transformations of the Moroccan electricity sector by increasing its attractiveness towards investors and industrial actors; ensuring competition and transparency in the market; and facilitating Morocco's integration in the Mediterranean regional electricity market. To do so, ANRE has the power to determine the tariffs for the usage of the transmission and distribution networks and it is responsible for the approval of network codes and of the TSO's multiannual investment programs.

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Today, the Presidents and Commissioners of Mediterranean Energy Regulatory Authorities are gathering in Rome to exchange approaches and good practices with regards to renewable energy development and the growing role of gas, which imply important challenges and require the adaption of the energy regulation from both a policy and regulatory perspective.

Today in Amman, international energy experts are presenting a concrete roadmap and technical solutions to Jordanian energy stakeholders to improve the country’s electricity licensing procedures on a one hand and to accelerate investment in the Jordanian storage system on the other hand. Organised over two days at the initiative of MEDREG* and in cooperation with the Jordanian Energy and Minerals Regulatory Commission (EMRC**), the workshop is meant to support and facilitate Jordan’s major electricity market development.

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On 6 November in Brussels, MEDREG held its energy Forum entitled “At the Forefront of Pro-active and Resilient Energy Regulation”, which saw the participation of nearly 80 key energy experts who exchanged on gas and renewable energy developments in the Mediterranean region through a pro-active dialogue.

A one-day conference on 19 September in Brussels to address ongoing and forthcoming energy reforms in southern Mediterranean countries. The event will bring together Energy Regulators from Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Morocco Palestine, and various European countries in Brussels. As members of MEDREG, they will share recent experiences of collaboration and explore solutions for a more harmonised regional energy market in the Southern Mediterranean.

On 26 June, Energy Regulators from the EU, the Balkans and Black Sea region joined MEDREG in a workshop in Brussels that aimed to strengthen regulatory dialogue across Europe and the broader Mediterranean region to support consumers in becoming active energy market participants.

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MEDREG held its 27th General Assembly on 18-19 June in Tirana, which was marked by a redoubling of the organisation’s efforts to promote and facilitate the deployment of sustainable support schemes for Renewable Energy Sources (RES).

A signing ceremony held in Vienna on 11 December brought together the Presidents of three regional associations of energy regulatory authorities. Presidents Garrett Blaney of CEER, Giorgi Pangani of the ECRB and Gülefsan Demirbas of MEDREG signed a Cooperation Arrangement that will strengthen regulatory cooperation between energy regulators across Europe through to the Mediterranean, South East Europe and Black Sea regions.

Gathered on 29 November in Istanbul for the organisation’s 26th General Assembly, MEDREG Members elected their new President Mrs. Gülefsan Demirbas, Head of the Strategy Development Department at the Turkish Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EMRA). She will be supported by three Vice-Presidents, Mr. Petrit Ahmeti (ERE, Albania) Mrs. Christine Chauvet (CRE, France) and Mr. Stefano Besseghini (ARERA, Italy). The new Board expressed its willingness to give a new impulse to MEDREG’s strategy and voiced their common ambition to support regulators, finding concrete and mutual solutions to the problems they face.

The progressive decline in the cost of renewable energy technologies and the integration of variable renewable energy into to the grids have led to the adoption of renewable incentive public policies. Among these policies, auction schemes have become increasingly popular with a growing number of countries adopting it over the past decade, including in the Mediterranean region.

Yesterday, on the eve of its 25th General Assembly, MEDREG held a workshop on the “Future of Gas in the Mediterranean Region” to inform further the work of Mediterranean regulators in this area. Hosted by the Portuguese regulator, ERSE, the event gathered gas experts from International Financial Institutions, regulators, Transmission System Operators (TSOs), policy-makers and industry, who shared their views on the current trends of the sector in the Euro-Mediterranean region and beyond.

The first trilateral workshop of the Council of European Energy Regulators (CEER), the Energy Community Regulatory Board (ECRB) and Mediterranean Energy Regulators (MEDREG) held on 28 June in Vienna kicked-off future closer cooperation of the three regional regulatory bodies. The event, focusing on consumer protection, follows a series of previous joint activities and events, among which common reports on quality of supply.

MEDRE’s Gas Infrastructure Map of the Mediterranean Region provides an outlook of the gas infrastructure in the Mediterranean region, including interconnection points, cross border transmission pipelines, Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) storage capacities, usage of the capacities and future investment plans across MEDREG members. 
 
Based on data collected from 14 Mediterranean countries, the Gas Infrastructure Map may guide Members to develop priority and/or potential infrastructure in the natural gas transmission systems, in line with natural gas supply-demand scenarios. The report also includes the technical details for the infrastructure of Croatia, Cyprus, France, Jordan, Malta, Spain and Turkey.

In the context of its key role to support energy regulatory authorities in the Southern Mediterranean, MEDREG facilitated the organisation of a technical study visit between the newly established Egyptian gas regulatory authority (GasReg), and Portugal’s regulatory authority (ERSE), to address regulatory experiences regarding liberalisation of gas markets. The study visit was financed by the European Commission, under an instrument called Technical Assistance and Information Exchange (TAIEX).

Today, on the occasion of the VII World Forum on Energy Regulation taking place in Cancùn, energy regulatory Associations from developing regions of Africa, the Mediterranean, Central and South America, Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Asia signed a cooperation agreement to put their resources in common and jointly work on energy topics of common interest.

Since its establishment in 2007 and with the continuous support of the European Union (EU), MEDREG has been working to develop a common regulatory culture and foster progressive energy market integration in the Mediterranean region. Building on 10 years of successful cooperation amongst its members, MEDREG has defined new activities for the twoyear period 2018-2019, enshrined in a new grant contract recently endorsed by the European Commission.

Based on data collected from 20 Mediterranean energy regulatory authorities and ministries, the Energy Regulatory Outlook presents the status of energy regulation in the Mediterranean Basin and aims to provide a complete overview about how the national energy sectors are ruled, ranging from independent entities to governmental bodies. Each regulator is analyzed according to a number of dimensions (such as independence, organization, transparency and accountability).
The report shows that most Mediterranean regulators are independent and empowered entities working to support the opening of the energy markets and mandated to define tariffs, issue binding decisions and sanction sector participants. However, the report indicates that in some countries the role and competences of the regulator could benefit from clarification and improvement in terms of tariff definition, dispute settlement between industry and customers and the protection of vulnerable consumers.

On 5-6 December 2017, MEDREG held a training on European rules for cross-border interconnections for their Tunisian member, the Tunisian Ministry of Energy, Mining and Renewable Energies. The 2-day training, in which participated 20 staff members of the Energy Ministry and of the Tunisian electricity utility (STEG), aimed at enhancing their knowledge and skills concerning the realisation of cross-border electricity interconnection projects, including the identification of appropriate business models.

On 5-6 December 2017, MEDREG held a training on European rules for cross-border interconnections for their Tunisian member, the Tunisian Ministry of Energy, Mining and Renewable Energies. The 2-day training, in which participated 20 staff members of the Energy Ministry and of the Tunisian electricity utility (STEG), aimed at enhancing their knowledge and skills concerning the realisation of cross-border electricity interconnection projects, including the identification of appropriate business models.