Greece’s Public Gas Company (DEPA) signed a deal with Gastrade S.A. for a LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) terminal in Alexandroupolis on the sidelines of the Southeast Europe Energy Forum.
The forum was organized by the American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce, in cooperation with the Hellenic Association for Energy Economics (HAEE).
The agreement signed by DEPA CEO Dimitris Tzortzis and Gastrade President Ioannis Arapoglou makes DEPA a shareholder in the FSRU infrastructure program in the northern Greek city.
This is a highly significant project that is expected to secure additional quantities of natural gas to supply the Greek and regional market in southeastern Europe, thus contributing to the expansion and diversity of energy sources and enhancing energy security.
With the agreement, Arapoglou noted, DEPA will participate in the company’s share capital, while Tzortzis noted that it had taken a long time to complete the agreement.
With regard to the schedule of the project, a market test is due to be completed in the near future and a final decision will be taken at the end of the year, meaning that it can be fully functional by the second half of 2020.
HAEE head Dr. Andriosopoulos, who helped organize the forum, noted that the investment will allow the participants to find an exit and alternative consumers in the Balkan region, in Serbia and Bulgaria, whose only source of natural gas at this time was the Russian gas coming via a pipeline from Ukraine.
“The Alexandroupolis project will give potential buyers in these Balkan countries the opportunity to diversify their sources of supply a little. LNG has dramatically changed the natural gas market worldwide, with the U.S. as a spearhead, due to its very cheap production,” he added.
Source: A.M.N.A.
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