DEPA International Projects

EastMed pipeline consortium set to apply for PCI status

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Boosted by the prospect of a significant gas deposit discovery off the Cyprus coastline, IGI Poseidon, the consortium behind the prospective EastMed gas pipeline, a 50-50 venture involving Edison and DEPA International Projects, is set to submit an application seeking Project of Common Interest (PCI) status, which assures EU funding support, for the gas pipeline project.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, skyrocketing oil and natural gas prices, as well as the EU’s efforts aiming for greater energy independence, with the backing of the US, are developments that have created new market conditions favoring the EastMed gas pipeline’s development.

On Monday, the ENI-Total consortium announced it has detected natural gas at Block 6 off the Cypriot coast, noting its preliminary estimates indicate the existence of a gas deposit measuring 2.5 trillion cubic feet, a significant quantity.

This gas deposit discovery is crucial for the sustainability prospects of the EastMed gas pipeline, intended to transport gas from deposits in the east Mediterranean to Europe.

According to a recent update from the IGI Poseidon consortium, the EastMed project’s licensing procedure and technical plans are nearing completion and should be finalized by the end of 2022. The EastMed gas pipeline could begin operating within 2027, the consortium added.

PCI-related funding support from the EU for the EastMed gas pipeline’s development would be crucial as this is a high-cost project, budgeted, most recently, at 5.2 billion euros.

IGB gas pipeline launch delayed by 8 months for late-June, 2022

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The commercial launch of the Greek-Bulgarian IGB gas pipeline has been deferred by 8 months, for June 30, 2022, as a result of pandemic-related obstacles faced during the project’s development.

The gas pipeline’s technical work is now expected to be completed by the end of this year, instead of April, 2021, as was originally scheduled.

Two months earlier, ICGB, the consortium developing the project, informed companies that have reserved pipeline capacities through a market test of the unavoidable delay in the commercial launch.

Contractor AVAX, the winning bidder for the project’s construction in an international tender staged by ICGB, began developing the pipeline in May, 2019, prior to the pandemic, whose emergence and impact forced the company to drastically reschedule the IGB project.

International quarantine rules have delayed the IGB project’s progress as many workers needing to regularly cross the Greek-Bulgarian border have been forced to quarantine, each time, for days.

The quarantining rules have also complicated the transfer of equipment needed from one country to the other.

The ICGB consortium is comprised of Bulgaria’s BEH, holding a 50 percent stake, and IGI Poseidon, a 50-50 partnership involving DEPA International Projects and Italy’s Edison.

The IGB gas pipeline, to cover a total length of 182 kilometers, will run from Komotini, northeastern Greece, to Stara Zagora in Bulgaria, offering a second interconnection between the two countries, in addition to the nearby Sidirokastro link.

The project is planned to begin operating at an annual capacity of 3 bcm, which could be boosted to 5 bcm at a latter date.

 

DEPA Infrastructure board soon, bidders shortlist in June

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Corporate revisions at gas utility DEPA, shaped by legislation ratified in December, have just about been completed ahead of the enterprise’s privatization plan.

All that remains, according to sources, is an announcement of the board members at DEPA Infrastructure, one of the new corporate entities established as part of the utility’s transformation.

This announcement is expected to be made within the next one or two weeks. DEPA Infrastructure will be established as an entirely new company with its own tax file number.

DEPA Trade, another new entity emerging from the wider corporate revision, will succeed the existing DEPA utility.

The utility’s other division, DEPA International Projects will, for the time being, remain a subsidiary of DEPA Trade before it is broken away 60 days prior to the submission of bids for its parent company.

Then, as the final step of its process, DEPA International Projects will be merged with EDEY, the Greek Hydrocarbon Management Company, the government has announced.

Nine bidding teams that have expressed official interest for DEPA Infrastructure are currently providing data to the privatization fund TAIPED, expected to shortlist candidates around June, sources estimate.

Meanwhile, DEPA is preparing its video data room as well as financial and technical reports that will be examined and evaluated by investors before they shape their bids. DEPA is expected to complete these reports in May.

DEPA International Projects, EDEY, the hydrocarbon company, to merge

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An amendment permitting a prospective merger between DEPA International Projects – a new entity resulting from a split at gas utility DEPA – and EDEY, the Greek Hydrocarbon Management Company, is now being prepared at the energy ministry, energypress sources have informed.

A number of DEPA-related projects have been added to the DEPA International Projects portfolio, including the Greek-Italian IGI interconnection, EastMed and the Greek-Bulgarian IGB pipeline interconnection.

In addition, any future DEPA-related projects – directly or indirectly – concerning development, construction or management of interconnection infrastructure linking Greece with neighboring countries will also be added to the DEPA International Projects portfolio.

EDEY, the hydrocarbon project licensing authority in Greece, has assets of approximately 12.5 million euros. The company reported a post-tax profit of 4.3 million euros in 2019.

EDEY’s range of activities will be broadened as a result of the company’s merger with DEPA International Projects.

Special categorization for the new company that would exempt personnel remuneration packages and hiring policies from strict state monitoring is likely, sources noted.

The merger plan’s legal details could be attached to an energy ministry draft bill on environmental matters that is expected to be submitted to parliament following the Greek Easter break.