Geoffrey Pyatt: Greece a key player in European energy sector

Speaking at an event organized by the Hellenic-American Chamber of Commerce at the Ecali club on Monday evening, U.S. Ambassador Geoffrey R. Payatt stated: “Greece’s emergence as a serious player in the European energy sector has been developing for many years, but it has gained real momentum in the last two years as key projects moved from vision to implementation and now completion.”
He went on to note that Prime Minister Tsipras has embraced Greece’s role as a European energy hub, therefore aligning the U.S. and European energy policies both of which recognize the significance of Greece’s role as a hub and seek to ensure greater energy security for Europe.
Payatt also referred to the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), in Greece and the Liquefied Natural Gas terminal in Revithoussa, stressing that just these two instances have significantly changed the position of Greece in the energy map. He added that the TAP pipeline, now 85% complete in Greece and on track to start commissioning next year and to begin deliveries in 2020, is the final leg of the more than $ 40 billion Southern Gas Corridor – one of the world’s most complex and important gas infrastructure projects – which has been supported by multiple U.S. administrations and for many many years.
He then went on to note that Revithoussa is a similarly positive story. The terminal, which Payatt visited last year when it was still possible to walk inside the massive, new storage tank, is set to be completed in the next few weeks.
Finally, the U.S. Ambassador sent the message that the topic of energy “remains a top priority for me as Ambassador, for the team at the U.S. Mission to Greece, and for the whole U.S. government.”