Greece’s DESFA said that seven users have reserved all of the available regasification slots in 2023 at its LNG import terminal located on the island of Revithoussa.
DESFA’s auction process for the commitment of unloading slots and gasification capacity at the Revithoussa LNG terminal for the period 2023-2027 attracted “strong interest” from both domestic and foreign users, the firm controlled by a consortium led by Italy’s Snam said.
For the year 2023, users booked all offered 26 slots with a total quantity of 19 TWh, it said.
In overall, 8 users participated in the process, while 4 domestic and 3 foreign users reserved the slots.
Taking into account the auctions carried out in 2021, 4 domestic and 3 foreign users booked 43 slots for the unloading of 36 TWh.
The reserved capacity for 2023 corresponds to 80 percent of the maximum regasification capacity of the terminal, DESFA said.
The strong interest in capacity follows record LNG imports to Greece via the Revithoussa facility in 2022.
Greek LNG imports via the Revithoussa terminal surged to 78 LNG cargoes in 2022 due to significantly higher volumes from the US.
The facility has one 225,000-cbm tank but DESFA also last year chartered GasLog’s 2006-built LNG vessel, Methane Lydon Volney, to serve as a floating storage unit at the Revithoussa facility as part of plans to reduce the country’s dependence on pipeline natural gas coming from Russia.
2024-2027
Besides the 2023 slots, 5 domestic and 3 international users have reserved 40 of the 45 available slots in 2024 in order to unload a quantity of 32.5 TWh, according to DESFA.
The reserved capacity for 2024 corresponds to 72 percent of the maximum regasification capacity of Revithoussa.
In addition, 5 domestic and 1 foreign user reserved 30 of the total 45 offered slots for the unloading of 25.5 TWh in 2025 while 3 domestic and 1 foreign user reserved 21 out of the 45 offered slots for the unloading of 16.5 TWh in 2026.
For the year 2027, 1 domestic and 1 foreign user reserved 21 of the total 45 offered slots for a total amount of 17 TWh, DESFA said.
“The significant interest of users forms a favorable condition regarding the security of supply of the country and the wider region, given the significant increase in exports to Bulgaria and the wider region of South-Eastern Europe, which has been recorded in the past year,” DESFA said.
