A deadline for the submission of binding bids in a tender staged by privatization fund TAIPED for the almost depleted natural gas field of “South Kavala” in the Aegean Sea’s north, being offered for the development and operation of a prospective underground natural gas storage facility (UGS) for a 50-year period, has been finalized for November 28, approximately two-and-a-half years after the tender was announced, energypress sources have informed.

However, the tender’s two final-round qualifiers – Energean and a partnership bringing together gas grid operator DESFA and construction company GEK Terna – have complained related pricing regulations are far from making the investment viable. Subsequently, the participants will most likely not submit binding bids, sources closely following the procedure have noted.

If so, the tender will most likely be declared inconclusive, setting back the country’s plan for a domestic UGS. Its gas storage capacity would offer crucial protection for Greece against international market price volatility.

Officials representing the energy ministry, TAIPED and RAE, the Regulatory Authority for Energy, held a meeting last week on the South Kavala UGS, where a decision was reached to complete the ongoing tender as soon as possible, with the current pricing regulation intact.

The tender for the South Kavala UGS was launched by TAIPED in June, 2020.