RAE, the Regulatory Authority for Energy, is preparing to decide on business pricing regulations for a prospective underground natural gas storage facility (UGS) at the almost depleted natural gas field of “South Kavala” in the Aegean Sea’s north, a step that would pave the way for the second round of binding offers in an ongoing privatization offering contracts for the development and operation of the facility.

The facility’s pricing regulations are scheduled to be discussed at a RAE board meeting this Thursday, sources informed.

The authority may opt to not take a final decision on the pricing regulations during this session and instead announce a preceding public consultation procedure of brief duration, between one and two weeks, to take into account the resulting feedback and then decide on the pricing regulation details, the sources added.

A gas grid operator DESFA and GEK TERNA partnership, as well as Energean Oil & Gas have advanced to the second round of the project’s tender staged by privatization fund TAIPED.

According to a previous RAE decision, 50 percent of the project’s cost will be passed on to gas network users. As for the other 50 percent, 35 percent is expected to be covered through EU funding, assuming the project is included on the EU’s Projects of Common Interest (PCI) list, while the remaining 15 percent will be taken on by the eventual investor.