Companies eyeing an FSRU project planned for development in Alexandroupoli, northeastern Greece, face a nearing February 15 deadline to submit expressions of interest for provision of a vessel to be used as part of the floating LNG terminal.

This will be followed by a final round for binding offers, expected within the first quarter of 2019, and a finalized investment decision soon after, presumably in the second quarter, when work on the project is planned to commence.

It is estimated the LNG terminal will be completed in the first quarter of 2021, while its launch is planned for the second quarter of 2021.

Meanwhile, a second-round market test offering traders capacity reservations is expected to be held during the second quarter of this year. The first round, completed at the end of 2018, attracted a total of 20 companies expressing interest for an annual capacity of as much as 12.2 bcm, which is more than double the prospective facility’s planned 5.5 bcm capacity.

Apart from Greek and Bulgarian firms that had been expected to take part, the market test also drew companies from the wider region, such as Serbia, Hungary, Romania and Austria, as well as major international traders.

The Alexandroupoli FSRU is planned to be constructed 17.6 km southwest of the Greek city’s port and will include submarine and overland pipeline systems measuring a total of 28 km for links with the country’s gas grid.

The facility’s LNG storage capacity is planned to measure as much as 170,000 cubic meters while its gas supply capacity is expected to reach 900,000 nm3 per hour or 8.3 billion nm3 per year.