Greece will be able to completely replace Russian gas in 20 months, with the completion of a floating storage and regasification station for liquefied natural gas (FSRU) at the port of Alexandroupolis, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said.
The solemn ceremony to launch the construction of a floating liquefied natural gas terminal took place on May 3 in the Greek port city of Alexandroupoli. It was attended by the US Ambassador to Greece Geoffrey PyattPrime Minister of Greece Kyriakos MitsotakisPresident of the European Council Charles MichelPrime Minister of Bulgaria Kiril PetkovPresident of Serbia Aleksandar VucicPrime Minister of North Macedonia Dimitar Kovachevski, as well as energy ministers of four countries.
Prime Minister of Greecespeaking at the ceremony of the beginning of the construction of the station, said: “Very soon, with this and other projects, we will be able to replace natural gas from Russian sources. At the same time, our countries are ready to take on a new role together in the new energy map of Europe. The recent blackmailing of Russia over gas shows that such cooperation is not only necessary, but urgent.“, – said Mitsotakis, saying that Greece’s goal is to achieve energy sufficiency and help neighboring countries such as Bulgaria.
“Within the next 20 months, Greece will be able to receive significant, very large quantities of liquefied natural gas. Regasification opportunities will amount to 5.5 billion cubic meters of gas per year. In other words, this Greek LNG station is able to completely replace Russian natural gas, not only in the national market, but also to replace a significant part of Russian natural gas supplies in the Balkans. Of course, in combination with the modernization of some pipelines and the construction of interconnectors“Mitsotakis said.
He said that it is planned to speed up the construction of interconnectors Greece-Bulgaria and Bulgaria-Serbia, the pipeline Greece-North Macedonia. Gas can also be supplied to Romania and Moldova, said the Prime Minister of Greece.
The project is advertised as one of the alternatives to Russian natural gas supplies. According to the work schedule, the floating terminal should start operating by the end of 2023, its capacity will be 5.5 billion cubic meters. m of natural gas per year.
The terminal will consist of a floating regasification unit with an LNG storage capacity of up to 170,000 cubic meters. m and a maximum capacity of 22.7 million cubic meters. m per day, as well as a pipeline system with a total length of 28 km (24 km of the underwater part and 4 km of the land).
The European Union refers to this project as being of common interest to EU and a priority, believing that it will contribute to strengthening the security of natural gas supplies, diversifying energy sources and routes, developing competition in the energy sector of Greece and the entire region of South-Eastern Europe, as well as creating a gas distribution hub here.
The terminal project in Alexandroupolis is planned to be complemented by the Greek-Bulgarian gas pipeline under construction, through which in the future natural gas will be supplied from Greece to Bulgaria, and from there to Serbia, North Macedonia, Romania, Hungary, and also to Ukraine.
The Alexandroupolis Independent Natural Gas System project is implemented by Gastrade. The shareholders of Gastrade, with shares of 20%, are Elmina Copeluzou (founding shareholder), Cypriot Gaslog Cyprus Investments Ltd, Bulgarian Bulgartransgaz EAD, Greek companies DEPA Emporias and DESFA. In March 2021, Gastrade SA signed cooperation agreements with NER companies AD and AD ESM from North Macedonia, reports eadaily.
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