At a time of rising tensions and economic and geopolitical uncertainty, Sempra joined other global leaders in Davos, Switzerland to discuss how to bolster energy security and accelerate the development of critical energy infrastructure in Central and Eastern Europe. Speaking at a panel discussion hosted by the Atlantic Council and the Three Seas Initiative, Trevor Mihalik, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Sempra, and chairman of Sempra Infrastructure, reflected on the important role for U.S. energy companies.
“This moment in time calls for reframing what the future holds and aiming for a thoughtful, collaborative and deliberate path to a cleaner, lower-carbon economy, and a parallel path to energy security,” said Trevor.
Photo: Trevor Mihalik, left, with former United States Ambassador to Poland, Georgette Mosbacher, at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
Infrastructure for the future
Energy reliability and security hinges on safe and resilient infrastructure. Investing in transmission and distribution infrastructure and import/export facilities today creates opportunities for decades to come. Three Seas Initiative aims to strengthen the economies of U.S. allies in Central and Eastern Europe through cooperative infrastructure, energy and digitalization projects.
“By interconnecting gas and power networks along with transportation systems and next generation digital and communications technologies, we at Sempra truly believe that the Three Seas Initiative has the potential to fundamentally alter the geopolitical and energy paradigms of Europe, helping to set the stage for what could be an era of secure, resilient, and reliable energy to accelerate innovation and reduce dependence on suppliers of energy that have proven to be unreliable,” said Mihalik.
Natural gas infrastructure helps displace higher carbon fuels like coal that are still a primary source of power generation in many parts of the world, while also providing a vehicle for emerging clean fuel technologies such as hydrogen and ammonia. Fuel switching from coal to natural gas and scaling up renewables helped enable a drastic emissions reduction in the U.S. over the last 20 years and provides a model for Central and Eastern Europe.
Photo: Trevor Mihalik, center, speaks at the Three Seas House Energy Transformation Panel in Davos, Switzerland.
Sempra’s role in Europe’s energy security
Sempra is actively responding to the urgent demand for energy security in Europe. In recent months, Sempra Infrastructure has expanded its strategic alliance with French company TotalEnergies and signed a non-binding heads of agreement with the Polish Oil & Gas Company (PGNiG) that contemplates supplying LNG from its growing portfolio of U.S. liquefaction development projects.
“Infrastructure, including terminals, pipelines, transmission, must be built in the near term to achieve the medium and long-term energy solutions the world needs,” said Mihalik.
