US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright. [AP]
Greece, Cyprus, Israel and the US – also known as the 3+1 scheme – will announce on Thursday in Houston, Texas, the creation of the East Med Energy Center, implementing a provision of the EastMed Act that has remained pending since 2019, when the relevant law was passed.
The establishment of this permanent transatlantic cooperation mechanism in the fields of energy, technology, innovation and research was one of the central provisions of the emblematic law, with which Washington institutionalized strategic cooperation with Greece, Cyprus and Israel in the Eastern Mediterranean. At the time, the US Congress had authorized the US Department of Energy to proceed with the creation of the center, which was designed to serve as a platform for connecting universities, research institutions and private sector businesses.
The inauguration of the Energy Center will take place at Rice University’s Baker Institute, in the presence of US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Minister of Environment and Energy Stavros Papastavrou, Cyprus Minister of Energy Michalis Damianou, as well as representatives of the private sector and leading US energy companies. Israel will be represented by Ambassador to Washington Yechiel Leiter and officials from the Ministry of Energy, as Energy Minister Eli Cohen has canceled his trip to the US due to commitments.
