RAAEY, the Regulatory Authority for Waste, Energy and Water, has approved five-year development plans, covering 2023 to 2027, by the country’s four natural gas distribution companies. They are comprised of investments worth a total of 840 million euros for new networks covering 3,500 kilometers of low and medium-pressure infrastructure.

The authority’s approval of the plans presented by the four gas distributors paves the way for their development. The network expansions, the distributors anticipate, will result in 370,000 new customer connections by the end of 2027.

Of the 840 million-euro total, 788 million euros concerns projects planned by DEPA Infrastructure’s three subsidiaries, the gas distributors EDA Attiki, EDA Thessaloniki-Thessaly and DEDA, all now controlled by Italy’s Italgas. Furthermore, Hengas has prepared a five-year, 50 million-euro investment plan for distribution network development.

EDA Attiki, covering the wider Athens area, plans to invest 159.9 million euros to add 484 kilometers to its distribution network. The distributor is active in 52 municipalities. It possessed a low and medium-pressure network totaling 3,981 kilometers at the end of 2022.

EDA Attiki expects to reach an additional 92,400 customers by the end of 2027 as a result if this network expansion.

EDA Thessaloniki-Thessaly plans investments worth 136.6 million euros for a 400-km network expansion and a rise in customers to 375,000 from 275,172 over the five-year period for the Thessaloniki area.

As for the Thessaly region, the distributor plans investments worth 113.9 million euros for a 400-km network expansion.

DEDA, the DEPA Infrastructure subsidiary covering other parts of Greece – eastern Macedonia-Thrace, central and western Macedonia, Epirus, western Greece and the Peloponnese, plans to invest 378.2 million euros for over 1,826 kilometers in low and medium-pressure networks.

Hengas plans to invest 50.6 million euros between 2023 and 2027 for the construction of a network covering 390 kilometers in central and western Macedonia as well as the Peloponnese.