DEPA Buys in to Greek FSRU Project

Greek energy company DEPA is buying a 20 percent stake in GASTRADE, a company implementing a project for a floating storage regasification unit (FSRU) in Alexandroupolis.

The terminal to be constructed consists of an FSRU with a storage capacity of up to 170,000 bcm of LNG and daily regasification capacity of 22.7 million bcm (8.3 billion bcm annually), that will be anchored 10 kilometers offshore Alexandroupolis and a 28 kilometer pipeline, most of which will be subsea.

The installation of the FSRU is a major pillar of the energy strategy implemented by the Greek government and a project of significance regionally. The project is part of European Union’s policy for Central and South Eastern Europe energy connectivity to the National Natural Gas System through the development of the Vertical Corridor. 

The terminal significantly upgrades Greece’s geopolitical position as an energy gateway to South-eastern Europe and a regional energy hub, says DEPA. The project is supplementary to the IGB pipeline, interconnecting the Greek market with the markets of Central Europe and Ukraine, thus contributing to the diversification of supply sources and energy security of both Greece and Europe. The IGB interconnector will connect the gas network of Greece with one in Bulgaria and also with the networks of other Balkan countries and, indirectly, with the Central and Eastern Europe markets (Hungary, Austria, Ukraine). 

Final Investment Decision is expected to be taken during the third quarter of 2020, and the FSRU is expected to start operation in September 2022.