Gastrade has taken the final investment decision (FID) for the Alexandroupolis LNG terminal.
This will provide additional energy security in Greece.
The project involves a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), which will have 153,500 cubic metres of LNG capacity. A 28 km pipeline will connect the FSRU to Greece’s gas transmission system. The network runs to Bulgaria and the wider region.
The plant should start operations by the end of 2023.
Gastrade has said it has already contract capacity for around half the plant’s capacity. It will have 5.5 billion cubic metres per year of potential throughput.
Gastrade chairperson Elmina Copelouzou said the FID opened a “new, important chapter in the energy security of the country and Southeastern Europe. We are particularly happy that Gastrade has undertaken a critical project that is a priority for the European Union.”
GasLog bought a 20% stake in Gastrade in 2017. A GasLog official, Paolo Enoizi, also welcomed the FID.
GasLog participates in Gastrade but will also carry out “the conversion of one of our fleet vessels to FSRU, which will subsequently be transferred to Gastrade at the end of 2023. Furthermore, GasLog will be undertaking the operation and maintenance FSRU, ensuring via its expertise the supply of high level of services to the users of the Station.”
The European Commission has opted to support the LNG import project, providing 166.7 million euros ($186mn).
DESFA CEO Maria Rita Galli said the project would allow Greece to “further emerge as an energy hub for the area, enhancing gas exports to the markets of Southeastern and Central Europe, increasing diversification of supply sources and substantially contributing to the energy transition of Greece and the wider region”.
DESFA will provide technical knowhow and experience based on its work at the Revithoussa LNG terminal, she said.
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