Page 6 - EurOil Week 49 2021

EurOil COMMENTARY EurOil

Greece presses on with

gas hub plans

Greece is developing significantly more gas import capacity than it needs, in order to

establish itself as a gas hub for the region

GREECE THE European Commission announced on Hub plans
November 29 it had cleared several investments The Alexandroupolis facility will help Greece
WHAT: in what is set to be Greece’s second LNG import fulfil its goal of establishing itself as a regional
Greece has made terminal, bringing the project one step closer to hub for gas trade. In addition to LNG, the coun-
progress with plans for a sanction decision. try already enjoys access to Russian gas as well
a second LNG import The EC said acquisitions in the project’s oper- as Azeri supplies arriving in Europe via the
terminal. ator Gastrade by Greek gas companies DESFA Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP). Greece’s gas
and DEPA Commercial, Greek businesswoman import capacity already far exceeds its consump-
WHY: Asimina-Eleni Copelouzou, Cypriot LNG car- tion, although the latter is growing.
The terminal will not only rier operator GasLog and Bulgarian gas trans- The country’s gas demand has been on an
supply Greece but also a mission operator Bulgartransgaz, did not raise upward trend for several years despite recent
number of other Balkan antitrust concerns. economic difficulties as a result of the pandemic,
countries. The project involves the deployment of a and is set to continue growing as it phases out
floating regasification and storage (FSRU) unit coal-fired power. Coal accounted for 11% of its
WHAT NEXT: off the coast of Alexandroupolis that will bring primary energy supply in 2020 and about a fifth
The tight gas market ashore up to 5.5bn cubic metres of gas per year. of its electricity generation. But climate commit-
could spur progress Its developers hope to launch the facility in 2023, ments as well as increased gas availability, lower
at Greece’s gas but the timing will depend on when an FID has import prices and higher carbon prices are spur-
infrastructure projects, been reached. The project will complement the ring the country to move away from coal. In its
and the country is looking existing Revithoussa terminal, which can import 2019 national energy plan, Greece committed to
to bring hydrogen into the up to 6.3 bcm per year of gas. a complete phase-out of coal in power generation
mix as well.

P6 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 49 09•December•2021