Gastrade kicks off $382m Alexandroupolis FSRU
Gastrade has kicked-off the $382 million Alexandroupolis Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) which will become a new energy gateway and play a key role in the energy security of Greece and S E Europe.
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Gastrade has kicked-off the $382 million Alexandroupolis Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) which will become a new energy gateway and play a key role in the energy security of Greece and S E Europe.
The FSRU will have a capacity of 153,500 cbm of LNG. It will be connected to the National Natural Gas Transmission System (NNGΤS) of Greece with a 28 km long pipeline. The gasified LNG will go to the markets of Greece, Bulgaria, and the wider region, with the prospect of supplying Ukraine as well.
The Alexandroupolis FSRU is to start operations by the end of 2023. Its contracted regasification capacity already has reached up to 60% of its technical capacity of 5.5 billion cbm per year.
EU funds
Some 166.7 million euros ($176 million) out of the total 363.7 million euros allocated to the project are EU funds.
The Prime Minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and the Prime Minister of Bulgaria, Kiril Petkov, co-signed the special symbolic plaque for the launch of the project.
The Founding Shareholder and Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Gastrade, Elmina Copelouzou noted: "The energy map is changing. We are now entering the final stage of implementation of the FSRU Alexandroupolis, an important and innovative project for Greece."
The gateway
The Vice President and CEO of Gastrade, Konstantinos Sifnaios, said: "Alexandroupolis is the gateway and Bulgaria is the connecting link of the supply chain that this project comes to supply, on the way to Serbia and Romania. The second FSRU, which was licensed by RAE last Thursday, allows for the further extension of this chain to Moldova and Ukraine. With these two projects, we are contributing to the creation of a real regional energy hub in the region that will strengthen the economy, security and cooperation."
From his side, the CEO of Gaslog Cyprus Investments, Paolo Enoizi, stated: "GasLog as a leading LNG shipping provider has contributed to the overall FSRU specification, its design and eventually its construction and will deliver the physical FSRU at Alexandroupolis anchorage by the end of 2023. GasLog‘s experienced teams onboard and ashore will manage safe and reliable operations of the unit for the years to come."
Booked capacity
The CEO of Bulgartransgaz EAD, Vladimir Malinov, noted: "The level of booked capacity and the interest of traders and consumers prove both the strategic importance of the terminal and its economic efficiency. Thanks to the terminal, Bulgaria, Greece and neighbouring countries will be able to take full advantage of the growing LNG market and the security and competitive prices it provides. Access to alternative gas supplies, from the US, Qatar, Egypt and other countries, will ensure competitive gas prices for these countries.”
Well-attended
The event was also attended and addressed by the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, the Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Dimitar Kovačevski, the US Ambassador, Geoffrey Pyatt, as well as representatives of the local government, including the Regional Governor of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, Christos Metios, and the Mayor of Alexandroupolis, Giannis Zampoukis.
The shareholders of Gastrade SA also participated, namely the Founding Shareholder and Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Gastrade, Elmina Copelouzou, the CEO of Gaslog Cyprus Investments Ltd, Paolo Enoizi, the Chairman of DEPA Commercial, Loannis Papadopoulos and the CEO of the company, Konstantinos Xifaras, the CEO of Bulgartransgaz EAD, Vladimir Malinov, and the CEO of DESFA, Maria Rita Galli.-- TradeArabia News Service
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