Page 7 - EurOil Week 49 2021

EurOil COMMENTARY EurOil

by 2028, but has subsequently brought the target injection rate of 5 mcm per day and a maximum
forward to 2023. extraction rate of 4 mcm per day. It will be con-
Even with the surge in gas demand that the nected to TAP via a 2-km pipeline.
coal phase-out will bring about, Greece will still The South Kavala licence is operated by Med-
have more gas import capacity than it needs for iterranean gas producer Energean with a 100%
its own use if the Alexandroupolis project is real- interest. But the project is yet to be finalised.
ised. But the construction of new gas links in Some of Greece’s gas infrastructure projects
the region will enable it to share some of these have struggled to make headway, as the Euro-
supplies with other Balkan states, many of which pean gas market has been amply supplied in
also rely significantly on coal-fired power and recent years, raising questions about whether
want to switch some of this to gas. additional import capacity is necessary. Con-
The Greece-Bulgaria interconnector will link cerns about how gas demand will fare during
the Greek grid with that of Bulgaria. The 182- the energy transition have also weighed down
km pipeline will initially have a capacity of 3 bcm on prospects.
per year, potentially rising to 5 bcm per year if However, the spike in gas prices this year
demand wants an expansion. The pipeline could could trigger some major milestones at these
also be connected to TAP in the future, providing projects, as it has become clear that gas demand
greater regional energy security and flexibility. has defied expectations and recovered much
Earlier this year the operators of TAP also faster since the coronavirus (COVID-19)
undertook market tests for a potential expansion induced slump last year.
of the pipeline’s capacity to 14.4 bcm per year,
17.1 bcm per year or as much as 20 bcm per year. Enter hydrogen
But the tests failed to garner sufficient interest, Moving forward, Greece also has plans to add
meaning the plan will remain on hold for the hydrogen to its energy mix. State-owned DEPA
time being. is working with Advent Technologies and a
Meanwhile, Bulgaria and Serbia aim to group of major Greek energy companies to pro-
break ground shortly on the 171-km Nis-Dim- duce green hydrogen in the Western Macedonia
itrovgrad pipeline and complete it in 2023. This region. The project, known as White Dragon, has
pipeline will establish a second route for Russian an estimated investment cost of €8bn ($9bn).
gas into Serbia arriving in Europe via the Turk- On September 6, the Greek government
Stream, but it will also be able to carry supplies approved White Dragon and four other hydro-
from Greek LNG terminals. Serbia is notably gen projects in Greece. A joint ministerial deci-
looking to overcome its coal dependence with sion deemed the projects to be of common
the construction of a series of gas power plants interest to the EU, which could put them in line
along the routes of pipelines. for financing from Brussels. The other projects
Adequate storage capacity is also important are Blue Med, to introduce hydrogen as a fuel for
for establishing a gas hub, which is why Greece buses and ships by 2025, Green HIPo, to develop
is looking to convert the near-depleted off- hydrogen electrolysers and fuel cells, H2CAT
shore South Kavala oilfield into a storage site. Tanks, which aims to establish hydrogen storage,
Preliminary studies indicate that South Kavala and H2CEM-Titan, which will look to deploy
could store up to 1 bcm of gas, with a maximum hydrogen in the cement industry.™

Week 49 09•December•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P7