Andrei Covatariu

Very excited to head to @globsec.bsky.social's #TatraSummit2025 this weekend, to join high-level stakeholders from Brussels & across #CEE to discuss the EU’s #energysecurity, the energy transition, & their role in shaping Europe’s competitiveness.

Check out my first “In About 100 Words” below⬇️

On 22 Sep, I’ll be back at the Vienna Energy Security Dialogue 2025 by OSCE & the WEC_Austria. Thanks so much for the invitation, Giulia Manconi & Daniel Kroos!

Looking forward to the exchange w/ Julia Reinaud, Tatiana Mitrova, Roberta Boscolo, Isabelle Dupraz & Berislav Gaso

Honoured to be spending the next months in #Florence as a Policy Leader Fellow at the @eui-eu.bsky.social 's @eui-stg.bsky.social

Over the 5-month residency, I’ll continue advancing my work on #energy & #climate policy as part of this vibrant community of scholars and practitioners.

This fall, I’m excited to team up with @globsec.bsky.social to contribute a dedicated section on #energysecurity and #criticalrawmaterials for the think tank’s Competitiveness Tracker. Preliminary conclusions will be discussed during GLOBSEC's upcoming 2025 Tatra Summit, in October.

In my latest piece for @atlanticcouncil.bsky.social, I discuss a topic I’ve been following for a while — the pressing impact of #cooling needs on Europe’s #energysecurity and its transition goals.

www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/energy...

#energytransition #heatwaves

In the seconnd part of my conversation with Divya Gopalan for @taiwanplusnews' CONNECTED, alongside Tsaiying Lu (DSET), we delved into more detail about the new layers of the #energysecurity concept, the race to #AI-driven data centers & the impact on power grids/generation.

Had a great two-part conversation a few days ago with Divya Gopalan for TaiwanPlus' CONNECTED, alongside Tsaiying Lu (DSET). Thanks so much for the invitation, Khloe Kai Hui Wong!

In this part, I discussed the #EU’s lessons on #energysecurity, adaptation & diversification plans

A big thank you to David W. Yellen, Anne-Sophie Corbeau, Albéric Mongrenier, Zuzana Pelakova, Olena Pavlenko, Ján Mykhalchyk Hradický, Mara Balasa, and the rest of the Clean Air Task Force team for your valuable inputs along the way!

...geopolitical dependence on authoritarian energy exporters, the CEE region can convert existing vulnerabilities into strategic assets. This will strengthen its own agency and enhance the EU's collective geopolitical power within a swiftly changing global energy landscape."

The paper looks at the energy transition in CEE as a "geopolitical necessity, rather than merely a technological or economic undertaking. By designing long-term scenario planning, aligning national interests with EU-wide industrial and energy strategies, and mitigating...

Honored to share this report I've been working on,exploring the #geopolitics of the #energytransition in #CentralEasternEurope. Grateful to Tamara Lagurashvili and the @cleanaircatf.bsky.social for commissioning this study—many thanks Tamara for the fantastic cooperation
cdn.catf.us/wp-content/u...

📢The EPG Summer School has officially began!
Day 1 of our educational programme brought 4 insightful lectures: EU’s path to #net0, #energytrends, energy policy in the #Baltics, Moldova’s energy #transition.

Many thanks: Mihnea Cătuți, Olga Bogdanova, Carolina Novac & @andreicovatariu.bsky.social!

Very glad to have discussed energy efficiency and the role of digitalization earlier today at the World Utilities Congress in #AbuDhabi, in the “Amplifying the impact of energy efficiency, the first fuel in energy transition” panel.

Incredibly honoured to share that I’ve been awarded a Policy Leader Fellowship at the @eui-eu.bsky.social in Florence, beginning Sep 2025.

Over the 5-month residency, I’ll be affiliated with the @eui-stg.bsky.social.

Also excited to reconnect with colleagues and friends from @fsr-eui.bsky.social.

Great conversations, awful weather.

A full day of back-to-back meetings in #DC today, discussing the transatlantic energy partnership, the geopolitical impact on energy security, & the strategic role of #CentralEasternEurope in ensuring that security.

#TransatlanticPartnership

Really great to be back and attend another #GLOBALENERGYSUMMIT by the @columbiauenergy.bsky.social | Columbia University today in New York.

Interesting session yesterday at the Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center - 'How Implementation Makes Environmental Policy Cheaper and Easier Than Expected,' featuring a presentation by Professor Beth DeSombre.

Started my full week in the US in #Boston, visiting and reconnecting with friends from MIT and Harvard and discussing the geopolitics/geoeconomics shaping the energy transition in the #EU and the #US today.

Excited for the next days in NY and DC!

Despite this context, optimism in #Brussels is at historic highs.The Electrification Action Plan & European Grids Package are expected-at best-by the end of this year, most probably in Q1 '26-critical documents to increase the EU electrification by the unrealistic 50% by 2030.

Additionally, on average, the YoY power transformer order backlog for some of the main manufacturers has increased by more than 30% in 2024. For these reasons (and many others), it takes an average of 8 years to develop an extra-high-voltage line in regions like Europe & the US.

It takes 4 years to deploy large power transformers, according to the "Building the Future Transmission Grid" report recently issued by the @iea.org.

#energytransforms #energygrids #EU

One interesting question is whether US secondary sanctions may be an option for other Russian commodities, which may, in turn, hurt Europeans more than China or India, as is the case for oil.

Even if that were to happen, the above-mentioned demand destruction would lead (in the medium and long term) to a bearish market, also influenced by other factors, such as the OPEC+ supply increase.

…fewer goods produced by these countries, including for their main importer, the US) has pushed prices. However, as long as sanctions are not actually imposed, the effect will only be temporary.

We are once again looking at different layers of geopolitical and geoeconomic premiums. The statement on potential secondary sanctions on Russian oil (which would indeed hurt Russia’s oil revenues, while also affecting Chinese and Indian oil demand, eventually leading to…

Back on @cnbcarabia.bsky.social yesterday from Athens to discuss the global oil dynamics, alongside May Ben Khadra and Hussein Sayed, CFA, CMT. Thanks for having me, Riad Saadi!

#USTariffs #oilmarkets #OPEC

A very interesting report published by Guidehouse highlights the many options for connecting these regions (the map below is taken from the report).

Report here: energypartnership-uae.org/fileadmin/va...

Much of yesterday’s conversation at the “Geopolitics, Connectivity and Energy Security: An Athens Conversation” conference in #Athens focused on energy #interconnections—particularly the role of #Greece at the crossroads of Africa, Asia, and Europe.

As Georgios Stassis highlighted:
“In an era of geopolitical and energy crises, the transatlantic alliance is more vital than ever. While the ‘why’ remains unchanged, the ‘how’ of our transatlantic collaboration must evolve. We need business-driven solutions that secure mutual benefits.”

Insightful discussions - today in #Athens - at the “Geopolitics, Connectivity and Energy Security: An Athens Conversation” conference by the German Marshall Fund of the United States and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).