Gas grid operator DESFA is preparing to launch a required market test for the development of a Greek-North Macedonian gas pipeline interconnection running from Nea Mesimvria, on Thessaloniki’s western outskirts, to Gevgelija, in the neighboring country’s southeast.

RAE, the Regulatory Authority for Energy, expected to soon be informed by the operator, will need to approve the terms of this preliminary procedure.

Windows International Hellas, an enterprise controlled by Russian entrepreneur Leonid Lebedev, which, in the past, has expressed interest for a rival project, has yet to emerge with any new action.

An alternative project from Windows International Hellas would be developed as an independent gas system, whereas the DESFA proposal is planned to be incorporated into the national gas grid.

RAE approved both project plans at the beginning of this year following two years of processing and consideration.

However, DESFA was asked to conduct a market test as the cost of the project, if developed by the operator, would, as a national grid project, be passed on to users.

The project, budgeted at 48.7 million euros and planned to stretch 120 km for a 3 bcm capacity, is seen as a source-diversifying initiative.