Preparations leading to the construction of a new gas pipeline in northern Greece’s west Macedonia region, including licensing for land to host the project, are on the final stretch, and should enable the project’s development to commence by February, 2023.

According to gas grid operator DESFA’s ten-year development plan, the gas pipeline, which will connect the west Macedonia region with the country’s gas network, also represents part of the decarbonization strategy for the lignite-dependent region, as well as its fair transition into the post-lignite era.

The new pipeline is scheduled to begin operating in August, 2023 before being integrated into the grid a month later.

The project, budgeted at 147 million euros, is planned to be co-financed by DESFA capital as well as a portion of a 505-million bond loan agreement reached by the operator with the country’s four main banks, National Bank, Eurobank, Alpha Bank and Piraeus Bank, to finance its ten-year development program.

The pipeline is planned to cover a total distance of 156 kilometers, running from a point roughly two kilometers east of Trikala to an area north of Ptolemaida, close to Komnina in the Kozani region.