Natural gas can contribute significantly to the decarbonization effort in a number of sectors, besides electricity generation, Greek gas grid operator DESFA’s CEO Maria Rita Galli has stressed in comments offered on the sidelines of the Delphi Economic Forum.

Expanding natural gas usage into activities such as heavy transport and shipping, a practice already adopted in other European countries, can greatly contribute to reducing CO2 emissions, she stressed.

Thoughts of reducing the role of natural gas in the next National Energy and Climate Plan, a prospect being rumored, require further examination and consideration, as has also been suggested by energy minister Theodoros Skylakakis, the DESFA chief executive noted.

A swifter withdrawal of natural gas from Greece’s energy mix, a concern for DESFA’s natural gas and hydrogen investment plans in the years to come, would require a quadrupled or fivefold tariff increase as the operator will need to recover the cost of investments made over a shorter period of time, amid conditions of progressively decreasing gas quantities, Maria Rita Galli explained.

DESFA’s administration acknowledges that hydrogen is not yet a mature technology but has underlined the country’s strategic planning must be based on long-term vision rather than current and short-term conditions.