Elpedison, a power firm owned by Greece’s Hellenic Petroleum and Italy’s Edison, is inviting companies willing to secure capacities at its planned Thessaloniki FSRU project to submit their bids.
The firm announced on Monday it has launched the non-binding phase of the market test for the FSRU project, where all interested parties are invited to express their interest in contracting capacities and services at the planned LNG terminal.
The project will include two permanently moored vessels, one floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) and one floating storage unit (FSU), located in Thermaikos Gulf, according to Elpedison.
“Thessaloniki FSRU, a new flexible and secure natural gas entry point to the country, due to its strategic location, will contribute to the security of gas supply in Northern Greece as well as to the entire South-East European region and will enhance congestions’ management in the national natural gas transmission system,” it said.
Elpedison said the deadline for submission of expressions of interest is January 12, 2024.
Last year, Elpedison submitted an application to Greece’s Regulatory Authority for Energy (RAE) for an independent natural gas system (INGS) license.
According to Elpedison, the FSRU and the FSU, will have a combined LNG storage capacity ranging between 250,000 cbm and 280,000 cbm.
During ship-to-ship operations, LNG will be loaded by vessels into the FSU, while the regasification system is designed for a nominal sendout capacity of 500 mmscf/day, or about 150 GWh/day.
The pipeline includes a 4.4 km offshore route, connecting the regasification system to the beach valv, and a 7 km onshore route, connecting the beach valve to the entry point into the NNGTS and serving Elpedison’s power generation facilities in Thessaloniki area.
Greek FSRUs
Greece will soon get its first FSRU and also the second LNG import facility, adding to DESFA’s import terminal located on the island of Revithoussa.
The 153,600-cbm, Alexandroupolis, which will serve Gastrade’s FSRU-based LNG import terminal in Alexandroupolis, has left Singapore and is on its way to Greece where it is expected to arrive on December 17.
In addition to this unit, Gastrade is also planning to install a second FSRU offshore Alexandroupolis.
Besides these two FSRUs, Dioriga Gas, a unit of Motor Oil, is looking to develop another FSRU-based import project in Greece’s Gulf of Corinth, while Greece’s Mediterranean Gas, the developer of an FSRU-based import project which includes ExxonMobil, has also previously received approval for its planned development in the port of Volos.
Should all these projects materialize, Greece would have at least five FSRUs in operation in the future.