The Executive Director of Bulgaria’s gas transmission system operator Bulgartransgaz Vladimir Malinov participated in an organised visit to the shipyard of Keppel Corporation in Singapore, where the floating unit for the liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal near Alexandroupolis is being constructed. Project shareholders were informed about a potential delay in the implementation of the activities. In this regard, they discussed measures to optimise the construction of the floating unit of the LNG terminal.
Mr Malinov stressed the need to speed up the activities so that the terminal is ready in the shortest possible time. According to him, the commercial interest in the terminal in Alexandroupolis is increasingly high, which confirms the forecasts that the share of LNG supplies to European countries will continue to rise steadily in the coming years.
“The terminal in Alexandroupolis is of key importance for the security of energy supplies and to guarantee competitive market conditions in the region,” he said. “Our investment in the terminal is strategic and timely. The ensured synergy with the projects for expansion of the underground gas storage Chiren and Interconnection Bulgaria-Serbia is also significant.”
He also noted that Trakia LNG – the planned second LNG terminal of Gastrade, as well as the other projects for new terminals in Greece, will further increase the interest in gas transmission through Bulgaria from south to north.
The Alexandroupolis Independent Natural Gas System has a design capacity for regasification of 5.5 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas per year. The LNG storage capacity of the facility is 153,500 thousand cubic metres. Among the potential sources of supply are countries producing liquefied natural gas such as the USA, Algeria and Qatar. Bulgartransgaz is a shareholder with 20 per cent of the capital of the project company Gastrade.
