More than ten companies are believed to have expressed official interest in a tender launched by Gastrade, a member of the Copelouzos group, for provision of a vessel to be used as part of the FSRU facility in Alexandroupoli, northeastern Greece, as well as for the LNG terminal’s development.

The tender’s deadline expired last Friday. Major international players have submitted offers, including foreign companies in collaboration with Greek contractors.

A market test measuring the level of interest for capacity reservations at the planned LNG terminal in Alexandroupoli, promising to serve as a gateway for gas supply to the wider Balkan region, is being concurrently held with the tender. The results of the current market test, whose deadline expires in mid-December, will be pivotal for the project’s final investment decision. A follow-up market test, for binding commercial interest, will also be staged.

The Alexandroupoli FSRU, planned to be constructed as a fixed facility 17.6 kilometers southwest of the city’s port, will have an LNG storage capacity of 170,000 cubic meters and the ability to supply gas at a rate of 900,000 nm3 per hour or 8.3 billion nm3 per year.

Construction of the Alexandroupoli FSRU is scheduled to commence in 2019 while its completion date has been set for July, 2020. The unit’s launch is expected in late September, 2020.