Greek gas grid and LNG terminal operator DESFA has launched a small-scale LNG storage and regasification facility in Aspro.
Aspro is a village in Skydra in the Pella regional unit of Central Macedonia, Greece.
According to a statement by DESFA, the firm launched the new facility on July 12.
The new facility is the first regional LNG storage and regasification station which will supply local natural gas network in Greece, DESFA said.
The Aspro facility provided another “reliable and sustainable” energy option to a number of new areas and users in the wider region of Central and Western Macedonia, it said.
Among the first users benefiting from the new facility are the canned fruit and vegetable company Kronos, Danais, and the general hospital of Edessa, as well as the distribution stations for the supply of the low-pressure gas network for the cities of Skydra and Edessa, according to DESFA.
Hengas will be the operator of the natural gas distribution networks in these cities.
DSEFA said the LNG facility will serve the region until DEFSA’s Western Macedonia pipeline, is operational, adding that this type of facility is reusable and can be moved to other areas that do not yet have access to the natural gas network.
More small-scale LNG facilities
DESFA said the newly established infrastructure forms a part of its small-scale LNG infrastructure value chain.
Recently, the Revithoussa LNG truck loading station, the first such facility in Southeast Europe, completed 104 LNG truck Loadings since the start of its commercial operation in November 2023.
The loading stations supplied remote users and industrial facilities in Greece and also the wider region with over 4,675 cbm of LNG or 30,139 MWh of equivalent energy.
According to DESFA, the LNG storage and regasification facility in Aspro is the first of 2several planned facilities by DESFA to be implemented in the near future”, as outlined in the company’s ten-year development program 2023-2032.
DESFA operates the LNG import terminal on the island of Revithoussa.
LNG deliveries to Greece’s Revithoussa terminal decreased by 48.2 percent in the first half of this year, with the US supplying most of the volumes.
The LNG shipments in the January-June period totaled 8.96 terawatt hours, or 12 tankers,
Besides the Revithoussa terminal, DESFA is also a shareholder in the upcoming FSRU-based LNG import terminal off Alexandroupolis, owned by Gastrade.
Gastrade recently told LNG Prime it expects to launch commercial operations at its LNG facility in October this year following an issue with the project’s pipeline.