A plan to install an FSRU off Crete to import LNG as a means of countering the island’s looming energy sufficiency problem between 2020 and 2023 appears to have run into trouble as floating units of the required capacity are not available in the market for this time period.

Gas grid operator DESFA, requested by RAE, the Regulatory Authority for Energy, to examine the FSRU prospect, has already proposed an even more ambitious alternative, the installation of an onshore LNG terminal on Crete, according to sources.

However, the considerable time required to develop this alternative – no less than three years – is a problem. So, too, is the cost entailed. Some form of support, possibly through CAT remuneration, could be needed.

If its development is eventually pursued, the onshore facility would serve as an LNG storage and regasification unit for LNG arriving from the Revythoussa islet terminal, close to Athens, or other sources, including Egypt.

An onshore unit’s sustainability would depend on the existence of gas-fueled power stations on Crete with a total capacity of around 400 MW, it is estimated.

Its adoption would bring about changes to a four-part solution proposed by the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) that entails converting power utility PPC’s 100-MW diesel-fueled units, situated at Atherinolakkos, into gas-fueled facilities; installing new gas-fueled power stations with a capacity of about 100 MW; developing new RES facilities offering a capacity of between 100 and 150 MW; and setting up a storage system for 30 to 40 MW.

A small-scale grid interconnection is planned to link Crete with the Peloponnese as of 2020, when older high-polluting units operating on the island will have been withdrawn, based on EU regulations. However, the island’s energy sufficiency issue will not be fully resolved until 2023, with the anticipated launch of a major-scale grid link with Athens.