In less than two decades from now, Greece will have a fully-fledged hydrogen infrastructure, one that is interconnected with countries to the north, noted Maria Rita Galli, Chief Executive Officer of the National Natural Gas System Operator (DESFA), speaking on Tuesday at the 7th Southeast Europe Energy Forum (SEEF2023) in Thessaloniki.
She added that this will allow Greece to continue playing the role of a green energy transit country, but possibly also that of an exporter. She noted that significant developments took place over the last few months and weeks in the Greece-Bulgaria interconnection project in the fields of green gases and hydrogen.
Together with Bulgartransgaz EAD, Galli added, "We will soon be able to launch the development of a project that will allow the connection of Greece and Bulgaria with green gases, while in the future, the so-called 'backbone pipeline' will be able to connect to the pipelines in North Macedonia and the new East-to-West pipeline, which is expected to be built in 2024."
Continuing, she added that the gas compressor station in Komotini, northern Greece, will allow the increase of gas flow to the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria Pipeline (IGB) from 3 to 5 cm (billion cubic meters) in less than two years.
In addition, the compressor station at Amelia, in Farsala, central Greece, will increase the already significant export flows from Sidirokastro in Serres, northern Greece, to Bulgaria and even further up north, she underlined.
Galli also pointed out that after receiving the Final Investment Decision (FID) of DESFA and NOMAGAS (North Macedonia's gas operator), construction of the pipeline's Greek segment is expected to start in early 2024.
She also emphasised that the market's interest in the South-North Corridor remains immense, indicating that in the framework of auctions currently underway, all the capacity of Greece's LNG storage and regasification terminal at Revithoussa for 2027 has already been sold, as has more than two-thirds of its power for 2028.
The shared commitment of Greece and Bulgaria to projects relating to natural gas was reiterated by Bulgartransgaz EAD Executive Director Vladimir Malinov in the forum.
The Floating Storage Regasification Unit (FSRU) in Alexandroupolis - which he said he hopes to be operational at the beginning of 2024 - will contribute significantly to energy security and supply diversification.
SEEF2023 is organised by the American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce (AmChamGR) and the Hellenic Association for Energy Economics, in cooperation with the U.S. Embassy to Greece and strategic partnership with the Atlantic Council and the Global Energy Institute of the U.S.
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