A binding second-round market test for an FSRU project planned for development by Gastrade in Alexandroupoli, northeastern Greece, could be launched immediately following next week’s Greek Orthodox Easter.

RAE, the Regulatory Authority for Energy, is close to finalizing and endorsing the terms of the market test. The authority has been engaged in continual talks with Gastrade over the past few weeks.

Gastrade is striving to maximize the flexibility of terms and product range to be offered to prospective users of the LNG terminal.

The market test’s first round, a non-binding stage, was completed on December 31. Twenty firms based in various parts of the wider region expressed official interest for annual capacity reservations totaling 12.2 billion cubic meters, exceeding the project’s planned regasification capacity of 5.5 billion cubic meters.

Interested parties intend to supply LNG quantities to markets in the wider southeast European region.

Gastrade plans to make a final investment decision by the end this year, while the project’s launch is projected for the end of 2021.