The Institute of Energy for South-East Europe (IENE) is celebrating a 30-year milestone of continuous organization of Greece’s leading energy event, the “Energy and Development” Conference, which will be convened in Athens on November 3 & 4, 2026, at the Eugenides Foundation in Athens, with a wide participation of speakers from Greece and abroad.
Responding to international and regional developments, the scientific committee of the Conference has prepared a highly motivating program that touches upon most aspects of the current energy debate, covering topics at the forefront of the energy agenda both in Greece and internationally. Once again, the Conference sets the energy agenda of the region, attracting the interest of a large number of senior executives from energy companies in Greece and SE Europe.
More than 100 renowned executives, academics and energy experts are expected to participate in this high-level event representing some of the biggest companies, organizations and institutions from Greece and abroad.
An in-depth discussion on the aftermath of the crisis in the Middle East and its overall impact on the energy sector and, consequently, on the global economy, shall be at the heart of this year’s conference. Another issue that is expected to dominate the proceedings is energy security and its particular importance for the wider region, in ensuring sufficient quantities of energy in the coming years. Thus, especially in the current context, the pivotal importance of the Energy Trilemma will be highlighted, with a focused dialogue being not only timely but necessary more than ever before.
Among the key topics to be addressed will be the latest developments in the region’s electricity and natural gas markets, the electricity grids, with emphasis on their further development and upgrade with special reference to submarine electrical interconnections. Other areas of interest will include energy storage systems and the delays observed in their development in Greece, as well as offshore wind farms and the difficulties involved in the construction supply chain.
Of particular interest is the topic related to the high penetration of RES in electricity generation, the risk of market saturation and the problems created by load shedding. In connection with the above, critical issues for the operation and the future of the retail electricity market will also be analyzed. At the same time, Greece’s new Special Spatial Planning Framework for Renewable Energy Sources (SPRF-RES) and its impact on investments in the sector will be examined. Europe’s high energy costs and how these undermine European competitiveness at global level, will also be examined.
Another key issue of this year’s Conference is energy efficiency with emphasis on buildings and its importance in the energy upgrade and improvement of the built environment. Also of great interest will be the discussion on the role of nuclear power as part of the decarbonization drive of the energy system and the shift towards clean fuels.
New energy technologies and their adoption will also feature prominently with special reference to Artificial Intelligence (AI) and how the latter is now being used in the management of energy systems, as well as the important role it is expected to play in the evolution and transformation of the energy sector. In this context, the issues related to data centers and rising energy demand from their operation will be hotly debated as well as electromobility and its impact on networks and electricity supply. The role of hydrogen and its applications in industry and transport and new advanced low-carbon fuels as well as CO2 capture, storage and utilization systems, known as CCUS, will also be examined.
Furthermore, a significant intervention is expected by the International Energy Agency (IEA), regarding the strategies considered in the preparation of its flagship annual study, the “World Energy Outlook 2026”, as this Report provides a global perspective of the developments in the energy sector with assessments on how the demand and supply are going to evolve in the coming years. At the same time, the findings of IENE’s major study, “South East Europe Energy Outlook 2025/2026”, will be used to guide the discussion at regional level.
Finally, this year's “Energy and Development” Conference will address the prospects for Greece's emergence as a natural gas gateway to SE Europe, as well as the European natural gas market, within the new geopolitical context shaped by the crisis in the Middle East and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. In this respect, the prospects for the discovery and exploitation of the significant hydrocarbon deposits estimated to exist in the Greek subsoil and seabed will be examined, especially in the light of the recently signed agreements with US oil and gas majors, thus signaling the country’s comeback into the global hydrocarbons’ exploration map.
As every year, the “Energy and Development” Conference will be held under the auspices of Greece’s Ministry of Environment and Energy (MEER), the Regulatory Authority for Energy, Waste and Water (RAAEY), and the International Energy Agency (IEA).
The Conference is supported by a group of major energy companies active in Greece and SE Europe.
