Gas utility DEPA is contemplating its entry into the equity line-up of an FSRU planned for Alexandroupoli, northeastern Greece, and, if so, whether this stake would be incorporated into DEPA Trade or DEPA Infrastructure, two new divisions to emerge ahead of the utility’s upcoming privatization.

DEPA’s stake in the Alexandroupoli FSRU, expected to be 20 percent, would make a good selling point for DEPA Trade ahead of the privatization. Finalized decisions by the DEPA board are expected soon. Neighboring Bulgaria’s liberalized gas market, in which DEPA already enjoys a presence, will be taken into account.

A project budgeted at 380 million euros, the Alexandroupoli FSRU, promoted by Gastrade, has reached a very mature investment phase. The unit is planned to be moored 17.6 kilometers southwest of the Alexandroupoli port.

According to the project plan, the facility’s LNG storage capacity will be between 150,000 and 170,000 cubic meters, while LNG regasification will be performed at the FSRU and then transported to mainland pipelines via a 28-kilometer pipeline, of which 24 kilometers will be under water.

The details of the DEPA Trade and DEPA Infrastructure privatizations still remain uncertain. According to some sources, both procedures could be staged concurrently and offer investors as much as 65 percent of each division, in other words, the Greek State’s entire stake in DEPA. Hellenic Petroleum ELPE owns the other 35 percent of DEPA.