The Final Investment Decision (FID) for the construction of the Independent Natural Gas System (INGS) of Alexandroupolis, in Greece, was taken by the shareholders of Greek utility company Gastrade.
Among the shareholders, Bulgaria’s natural gas transmission operator (TSO) Bulgartransgaz, Greece’s public gas corporation, DEPA and the Hellenic gas TSO, DESFA.
It is the last and most significant milestone, before entering the project’s construction phase. The construction of the liquefied natural gas Terminal near Alexandroupolis aims to provide new gas quantities in order to supply the regional markets in Southeast Europe. Companies from the United States, Qatar, Israel are expected to be the main gas suppliers to the Terminal. Thus, the project will contribute to gas supply sources and routes’ diversification, as well as to promoting competition to the benefit of end-customers.
“The participation of the Bulgarian state through Bulgartransgaz, as a shareholder in the project, will contribute to strengthening natural gas market in the region of Southeast Europe,” emphasised Executive Director, Vladimir Malinov. “Access to alternative natural gas supplies, also from the United States, Egypt, Qatar and others, to Bulgaria and the neighbouring countries, will ensure competitive prices in the natural gas market. The growing liquidity through access to liquefied natural gas will accelerate the process of decarbonisation in Bulgaria.”
“The current energy crisis highlights the strategic importance of the investment and the materialisation of Alexandroupolis INGS, not just for Greece, but for the wider Europe in general,” added the Chairman of DEPA Commercial, Ioannis Papadopoulos and the CEO, Konstantinos Xifaras. “A new entry gate of energy supply is being created, which will be upgrading dramatically our country’s place in the SE energy map.”
The Terminal is expected to operate by the end of 2023, with its contracted regasification capacity already reaching up to 50 per cent of its technical capacity of 5.5 billion cubic metres (bcm) per year. The Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) will be connected to the National Natural Gas Transmission System of Greece by a 28 kilometres pipeline, through which the regasified LNG will be transported to the markets of Greece, Bulgaria and the wider region, from Romania, Serbia and North Macedonia, all the way to Moldova and Ukraine.
