the top of our agenda. What happens with the
non-interconnected islands, though? Here lies the
opportunity for very high Renewable Energy pen-
etration.
4. South-eastern Energy Crossroads
Greece is becoming an integral part of what we
can now call a South-eastern Energy Crossroads.
This is made out of two Corridors. The first is the
Vertical Corridor starting from Greece and
stretching over the Balkans up to the heart of
Eastern Europe. The second Corridor is that of
the Eastern Mediterranean, which will directly link
the European Energy Market with the gas fields in
the Levant Basin.
5. Hydrocarbons
Greece has already launched two international
licensing rounds for offshore hydrocarbons explo-
ration in Western Greece and south of Crete.
The gas field of Prinos is up and running, and its
overall capacity has skyrocketed to 129 million
barrels.
Our government is committed to collaborating
closely with international partners to promote
trade, investment and commercial relations so as
to realise this major change: the “resetting” of the
economy through the reorientation and restructur-
ing of the production system. In an area like
South-eastern Europe, where stability seems to
be constantly at stake during the last two years,
Greece will always remain a key factor of
stability.
Trade with Greece
17
opportunities in the energy field. There are two
constraints shaping the Greek energy landscape
and the investment opportunities within it: the first
is described by the Paris Agreement on Climate
Change and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development. Both point to one commandment:
“Invest Green or Perish.” The future belongs to
investments in renewable and green energy that
will alleviate the global warming effect. The sec-
ond constraint is located at the EU level, and
goes by the name of Energy Union 2020. We are
fully committed to its targets and we are well
underway to reaching them.
The two aforementioned constraints present five
great windows of investment opportunities in the
energy sector:
1. Retail Electricity Market
The opening of the electricity retail market in a
stable and coordinated manner that will safe-
guard the stability of the system offers a great
investment opportunity, not only in retail opera-
tions but in production lines as well.
2. New generation distribution electrical net-
work
The second window of opportunity is investing in
electricity networks innovation. Electricity markets
are undergoing a major transformation, similar to
the one telecommunications underwent through-
out the 1990s. The future lies in the link of elec-
tricity networks with the digital world.
3. Creating an energy network of islands
Electrical interconnection with Greek islands is at
