Alexandroupoli FSRU

DESFA sees Alexandroupoli LNG unit as Revythoussa rival

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Officials at DESFA, the natural gas grid operator, are viewing plans for the development of a floating LNG terminal (FSRU) in Alexandroupoli, northeastern Greece, as a rival project for the operator’s existing facility in Revythoussa, an islet just off Athens.

Gastrade, a Greek natural gas infrastructure company behind the Alexandroupoli FSRU project’s development, yesterday signed a cooperation agreement with DEPA, the Public Gas Corporation, formalizing their affiliation for the prospective LNG terminal in the country’s northeast.

Meanwhile, DESFA is currently upgrading its Revythoussa LNG terminal. The upgrade, budgeted at 45 million euros and expected to be completed in approximately ten months, includes the addition of a third tank and a port infrastructure enlargement that will enable larger-capacity tankers to dock.

Once the Revythoussa terminal’s upgrade is completed it will operate at just 20 percent capacity, based on the current level of activity at the facility. This essentially means the Revythoussa terminal will be in a position to cover increased activity, rendering a second LNG terminal in Greece needless.

The Alexandroupoli FSRU is being supported by the US and EU as its development would facilitate US gas supply across the Greek border to the wider Balkan region and help reduce Russia’s dominance.

However, regardless of whether LNG exports are made from Revythoussa or Alexandroupoli, a metering station situated at Sidirokastro, northern Greece, needs to be upgraded if LNG is to be transmitted to Bulgaria for wider distribution. This metering station is now being upgraded. The effort includes a capacity boost as well as a reverse-flow transmission system.

In addition, the Bulgarian network, currently saturated as a result of Russian gas supply, also requires an upgrade, including greater capacity, if Greek LNG exports are to be transmitted into the neighboring country.

Developers of the Alexandroupoli FSRU should not expect national gas system funding, DESFA sources noted.

 

 

DEPA, Gastrade formalize their Alexandroupoli LNG affiliation

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Top officials of DEPA, the Public Gas Corporation, and Gastrade signed a Cooperation Agreement in Athens today for DEPA’s involvement in the prospective LNG terminal planned for  Alexandroupoli, northeastern Greece, a project being developed by Gastrade.

The project has been classified as a Project of Common Interest (PCI), facilitating EU funding.

The cooperation agreement, making DEPA’s involvement official, was signed by Theodoros Kitsakos, chief executive officer at DEPA, and Konstantinos Spyropoulos, Gastrade’s managing director. It includes the next steps to be taken for DEPA’s participation in Gastrade’s share capital, as well as a list of common efforts required by both parties to make progress with the project’s commercial development.

The Alexandroupoli LNG terminal promises to secure new natural gas supply quantities for the Greek and regional southeast European markets; offer new gas sources and routes; promote competition to the benefit of consumers; enhance supply security in Greece and the Balkan markets; and improve the reliability and flexibility of the Greek National Natural Gas Transmission System and of the regional and trans-European gas networks.

Over the past two years, DEPA and Gastrade have held a series of constructive meetings, staged to push forward their cooperation with regards to the project, both at national and European levels, and to create the optimal set-up for its development, construction and operation.

DEPA, backed by an extensive Greek gas market presence, is a modern and competitive group with dynamic presence in the energy sector. The corporation promotes the development of strategic infrastructure for the supply of natural gas from diverse sources and routes at competitive prices, with an objective to establish its leading role in the markets of the wider southeast European region.

Gastrade, a Greek utility company that studies, designs, develops, operates and exploits natural gas infrastructures, has obtained all necessary licenses for the Alexandroupoli LNG project,  enabling construction to commence.

Last February, Gaslog, one of the largest international owners, operators and managers of LNG carriers, acquired a 20% stake in the share capital of Gastrade via a 100% owned affiliate. Gaslog owns, operates and manages a fleet of 27 LNG carriers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two extra partners, including US firm, joining FSRU plan for Alexandroupoli

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Negotiations aiming for the entry of two extra stakeholders into an existing three-member consortium planning to develop a floating LNG terminal (FSRU) in Alexandroupoli, northeastern Greece, have reached an advanced stage.

BEH (Bulgarian Energy Holdings) and an unnamed US company are the two new firms currently negotiating their involment in the project.

The Alexandroupoli project plan was initiated by Gastrade, a member of the Copelouzos group, before Gaslog, an international LNG carrier operator headed by Peter Livanos, and, most recently, DEPA, the Public Gas Corporation, also joined in.

The current talks are headed towards an agreement that would provide all five stakeholders with equal shares, 20 percent each, in the venture.

The Alexandroupoli LNG terminal was the focus of attention at a recent Economist conference. Greece’s energy minister Giorgos Stathakis disclosed, at the event, that talks were underway for the addition of a new US stakeholder. Kate Marie Byrnes, Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Greece, described the prospective Alexandroupoli FSRU as a priviledged LNG entry point, including for American LNG.

The Alexandroupoli project’s development would facilitate US gas supply to the wider Balkan region and help reduce Russia’s dominance.

Project officials are looking to have the Alexandroupoli LNG relisted as a Project of Common Interest (PCI), which would enable EU funding and support the facility’s development. The EU generally backs projects promising energy diversification.

An existing LNG terminal operates on Revythoussa, an islet just off Athens. A third tank is being added to this facility to increase its capacity.

 

DEPA confirms interest in Alexandroupoli FSRU project

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DEPA, the Public Gas Corporation, has confirmed its interest to become involved in a prospective floating LNG terminal (FSRU) planned for Alexandroupoli, it became known during an energy conference staged at the northeastern port city just days ago.

The Alexandroupoli FSRU, a project to be developed by Gastrade, was a key subject at the event, whose proceedings included discussions between company officials. US support for the geopolitically significant FSRU was reiterated at the Alexandroupoli conference by the US Ambassador to Greece Geoffrey R. Pyatt.

The Alexandroupoli project’s development would facilitate US gas supply to the wider Balkan region and help reduce Russia’s dominance.

DEPA has requested a feasibility study for clarification of various details concerning the Alexandroupoli FSRU and also to help determine whether the objective of establishing the city as an energy hub should be pursued.

One issue requiring further thought is how the Alexandroupoli LNG terminal will be successfully added to Greece’s gas sector given that a third tank is currently being developed at the country’s only exisiting LNG facility at Revythoussa, an islet just off Athens.

Transportation cost issues also need to be taken into account. Reaching Alexandroupoli from Mediterranean waters requires an additional day or day and a half of sailing time compared to the Revythoussa location.

Funding issues as well as undetermined technical and financial matters also need to be worked on.

DEPA officials have ascertained the company’s willingness to participate in the Alexandroupoli LNG project but noted that the involvement’s terms are being closely examined.

Project authorities are looking to have the Alexandroupoli LNG relisted as a Project of Common Interest (PCI), which would enable EU funding and make possible the facility’s development. The EU generally supports projects promising energy diversification.

On a related front, the consortium looking to develop the Greek-Bulgarian IGB interconnection – which promises to benefit the Alexandroupoli LNG, and vice versa –  yesterday announced that five companies have expressed an interest to reserve respective pipeline capacities through a market test.

 

 

 

Gastrade announces tender for Alexandroupoli FSRU pipelines

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Gastrade has anounced a tender seeking construction firms for pipeline development linked to a floating LNG terminal (FSRU) planned for Alexandroupoli, northeastern Greece.

The FSRU project, taken on by Gastrade, is envisaged to be connected to Greece’s natural gas grid.

Construction companies have been invited to submit bids for two pipeline sections – submarine and overland. The split of the LNG terminal’s pipelines into two sections is expected to help local construction firms participate in the international tender.

The project’s technical planning stage, funded by the EU, is expected to be completed within the third quarter of the current year; the tender for the project’s construction is scheduled to proceed in the fourth quarter of this year; while a final decision is planned for the first quarter of 2018, Gastrade has announced.

Gastrade has set a September 15 deadline for bids.

 

Alexandroupoli FSRU project headed for PCI list reentry

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The prospective floating LNG terminal in Alexandroupoli, northeastern Greece, stands a serious chance of regaining its place on a list of EU Projects of Common Interest (PCI), the results of a latest regional working group meeting in Brussels have indicated.

The Greek government’s effort to put the Alexandroupoli floating storage regasification unit (FSRU) back on the PCI list, which would facilitate EU funding, is believed to have gained momentum. The project is now expected to be placed in a second-tier group of projects seeking entry into the PCI list and, from there, eventually be promoted to the main PCI list, an energypress source informed.

The Alexandroupoli FSRU, to be developed by Gastrade, is expected to gain further PCI credibility once plans to develop the nearby Greek-Bulgarian IGB gas interconnector have been finalized.

As was recently reported by energypress, a plan to transform a depleted natural gas deposit in south Kavala, northern Greece, into an underground gas storage facility has regained its place on a revised PCI list, released on June 30.

The south Kavala underground gas storage facility had been removed from the PCI list during a revision made two years ago.

All other infrastructure projects of Greek interest have retained their places on this revised PCI list. These include the Poseidon gas pipeline, planned to run from Greece to Italy, indicating that this project is a serious contender for a role in a prospective new route to carry Russian gas to Europe (Turkish Stream) as well as another major project to bring gas to Europe from the eastern Mediterranean (East Med).

The Euro Asia Interconnector, a submarine cable project to link the Greek, Cypriot and Israeli electricity networks, as well as East Med, a prospective gas pipeline to transmit gas from Cyprus’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) to mainland Greece via Crete, have also retained their places on the PCI list.

So, too, has the IGB, the Greek-Bulgarian Interconnector, for which a final investment decision is expected imminently.

Tesla, a prospective natural gas pipeline to offer a link from Greece to Austria, is also on the updated PCI list.

 

 

IGB’s final market test to take place in autumn, officials agree

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A final market test for the prospective IGB (Greek-Bulgarian Interconnector), entailing the submission of binding bids by gas traders for the allocation of pipeline capacity, will take place this coming autumn, officials agreed at a meeting in Sofia today involving the participation of energy minister Giorgos Stathakis and his Bulgarian counterpart Temenuzhka Petkova.

EU funding for the IGB project has been ensured through respective National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) programs, Teodora Georgieva and Konstantinos Karayannakos, the executive officers of ICGB, the consortium established to develop the IGB project, informed the meeting’s participants while also stressing that major progress has been made over the past two years.

The project’s licensing procedure is at an advanced stage and awaiting pending regulatory decisions, the ICGB officials informed.

Stathakis and Petkova also discussed the prospective floating storage regasification unit (FSRU) in Alexandroupoli, northeastern Greece.

The IGB and Alexandroupoli FSRU will be designed to complement each other while the development of these two projects promises to create a competitive market that will have a positive impact on regional natural gas price levels, the Greek energy ministry noted in a statement.

The productive cooperation achieved between Greece and Bulgaria in the energy sector promises to ensure natural gas supply diversification in southeast Europe, the ministry’s announcement stressed.

The two ministers pledged to further enhance the mutually beneficial Greek-Bulgarian cooperation in the energy sector.

Officials at the meeting agreed that the Alexandroupoli FSRU’s completion will need to coincide with the commercial launch of the IGB project, scheduled for early 2020.

Kavala gas storage unit back on PCI list, FSRU in north ejected

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A plan to transform a depleted natural gas deposit in south Kavala, northern Greece, into an underground gas storage facility has been re-included on an unfinalized list of EU Projects of Common Interest (PCI), while the development of a new floating storage regasification unit (FSRU) in Alexandroupoli, northeastern Greece, to be developed by Gastrade, has been removed from the list.

Latest revisions to the list, still unfinalized, were made during a session on June 30. EU officials are expected to meet in mid-July to finalize the PCI list before it is endorsed by the European Commission.

Over the past few days, the Greek government has intensified efforts to also have the Alexandroupoli FSRU included on the PCI list, which would facilitate EU funding.

The south Kavala underground gas storage facility, now back on the PCI list, had been removed during a revision made two years ago.

Its construction cost has been slashed to about half of an initial estimate of 400 million euros, which makes the project’s sustainability less demanding.

Energean Oil & Gas, the Greek firm exploiting deposits in the wider Kavala region, holds the rights to the depleted south Kavala deposit. The company has made repeated requests for a conversion of its existing south Kavala deposit license into a gas storage license, which is permittted by current law.

All other infrastructure projects of Greek interest have retained their places on the PCI list, energypress sources have informed.

These include the Poseidon gas pipeline, planned to run from Greece to Italy, indicating that this project is a serious contender for a role in a prospective new route to carry Russian gas to Europe (Turkish Stream) as well as another major project to bring gas to Europe from the eastern Mediterranean (East Med).

The Euro Asia Interconnector, a submarine cable project to link the Greek, Cypriot and Israeli electricity networks, as well as East Med, a prospective gas pipeline to transmit gas from Cyprus’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) to mainland Greece via Crete, have also retained their places on the PCI list.

So, too, has the IGB, the Greek-Bulgarian Interconnector, for which a final investment decision is expected imminently.

Tesla, a prospective natural gas pipeline to offer a link from Greece to Austria, is also on the updated PCI list.