Bulgaria’s Overgas is looking to take regasified LNG from Excelerate Energy’s planned Vlora LNG terminal in Albania under a new deal revealed on Monday.
In that regard, the two firms signed a memorandum of understanding, in Sofia, Bulgaria on July 14 relating to the sale of regasified LNG downstream of the Vlora terminal, according to a statement by the US FSRU player.
Under this deal, the two firms will enter into a negotiation for Overgas to purchase up to 1 billion cubic meters of regasified LNG annually for ten years from Excelerate via the terminal and the proposed Vlora-Fier pipeline.
The pipeline would interconnect with existing natural gas infrastructure in Europe’s Southern Gas Corridor, according to Excelerate.
Also, Excelerate said the memorandum expands the scope of its Vlora terminal project to include downstream sales of regasified LNG into Europe and has the “potential to bring much needed supply diversification not only in Bulgaria, but also in neighboring countries in the region.”
Energy security
Oliver Simpson, commercial VP of Excelerate said that for many countries in Europe’s Southern Gas Corridor, “flexible access to LNG remains critical to ensuring their energy security.”
“Integrated LNG projects like the Vlora terminal are a logical solution for meeting the urgent energy needs of Bulgaria and other Balkan and European countries linked to the Southern Gas Corridor,” Simpson said.
Moreover, this agreement follows previous MOUs between Excelerate, Italy’s Snam and Albania’s Albgaz to explore potential cooperation for the construction of a natural gas pipeline from the Vlora terminal to other natural gas infrastructure in Albania. Albgaz also signed a deal with Overgas and the recent memorandum with Spain’s Enagas.
Earlier this year, Excelerate said it plans to deploy its FSRU Excelsior to serve the Vlora LNG project in Albania after the unit completes its contract in Israel.
The firm said at the time it expects the Vlora LNG terminal and power plant project to come online in the second quarter of 2023.
