Procedures leading to the establishment of legal and regulatory frameworks needed for commercial utilization of biomethane and hydrogen need to be accelerated by the government and the regulatory authority, Marios Tsakas, chief executive of gas distributor DEDA, has stressed in an interview with energypress.

Greece, from a technical and technological point of view, is ready to move ahead in the biomethane and hydrogen domains, the DEDA official pointed out.

Two pilot projects carried out by the company could develop into twenty mass-production projects if the pending legal and regulatory frameworks are completed and authorities give the green light, Tsakas noted.

The DEDA chief executive expressed optimism on the prospects of natural gas, noting that wild price fluctuations amid the energy crisis do not diminish the strategic advantages offered by this fuel, which can contribute significantly to reduced energy cost.

DEDA is preparing for the Greek market entry of sector giant Italgas, which has acquired gas company DEPA Infrastructure, Tsakas noted, adding that the arrival of this new investor, possessing enormous expertise of over 100 years in the natural gas sector, will lead to further growth that will benefit DEDA.

“We are network operators and, therefore, must be able to respond efficiently and responsibly, whether we are talking about pure gas networks or a mixture of gas and hydrogen, or biomethane,” Tsakas remarked.