Greece’s Gastrade expects to launch commercial operations at its FSRU-based LNG import terminal off Alexandroupolis in October this year following an issue with the project’s pipeline.
The 2018-built 174,000-cbm LNG carrier, GasLog Hong Kong, delivered on February 18 the commissioning cargo from the US to the 153,600-cbm FSRU, Alexandroupolis.
Gastrade said on April 5 that the company planned to launch commercial operations at the end of April and receive the next LNG cargo in mid-May.
However, the company postponed the launch due to a “technical issue” that was faced during the commissioning process of the terminal, it said on May 2.
“The new COD (commercial operation date) has now been anticipated for October 1, 2024, to coincide with the start of the next gas year,” a Gastrade spokeswoman told LNG Prime on Thursday.
“The issue that was identified during commissioning in the pipeline system of the project, is under rectification,” she said.
“Should the issue be resolved earlier, the company will update its customers accordingly and announce an earlier COD,” the spokeswoman added.
First Greek FSRU
Gastrade’s shareholders include founder Copelouzou, DESFA, DEPA, Bulgartransgaz, and GasLog.
This is Greece’s first FSRU and the second LNG import facility, adding to DESFA’s import terminal located on the island of Revithoussa.
The Alexandroupolis LNG terminal will have a capacity of 5.5 bcm.
Greece’s converted FSRU arrived in Alexandroupolis from Singapore on December 17, 2023, while mooring hook-up was completed on December 23.
The FSRU is located in the sea of Thrace at a distance of 17.6 km SW from the port of Alexandroupolis and 10 km from the nearest coast of Makri.
It is connected to a high-pressure subsea and onshore gas transmission pipeline.
Italy’s Saipem announced in April this year that the pipeline project had been completed. The work included the offshore installation of 24 kilometers of pipeline with its pipelay vessel Castoro 10.
Following commercial launch, the pipeline will deliver natural gas to the Greek transmission system and onwards to the final consumers in Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, North Macedonia, Serbia and further to Moldova and Ukraine to the East and Hungary and Slovakia to the West, Gastrade previously said.