The Greek Alternate Minister of Economy and Finance, Nikos Papathanasis, announced today that the European Commission had approved its participation in the funding of the Alexandroupolis Independent Natural Gas System (INGS).
The total cost for the completion of the project through the NSRF (National Strategic Reference Framework) is estimated to reach €202,265,539.
After reviewing the data submitted by the Managing Authority of the “Competitiveness” Program, the European Commission concluded that the European financial contribution for the project, selected by the Special Service, was fully justified.
The EU decision marks the recognition of the project’s importance both for strengthening Greece’s role and prospects as an energy hub in the wider region and as a source for the country’s energy supply with natural gas.
The LNG Terminal in Alexandroupolis is expected to begin commercial operations on October 1, 2024.
The project is considered an essential piece of a greater plan for the region that will create a ‘Vertical Corridor’ to improve the energy security of central and southeast Europe and reduce the region’s dependency on Russian natural gas.
The Vertical Corridor will transfer natural gas to the EU market, from Greece to Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Moldova, and Ukraine, and vice versa, through European natural gas and LNG transmission systems.
The Alexandroupolis FSRU is a part of the Alexandroupolis LNG terminal, which connects directly to the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP).
The TAP transports Azerbaijani gas from the Turkish border, across all of Northern Greece and continues on to Italy via undersea link from Albania.
The majority of the imported LNG is not currently planned for sale in Greece; it is estimated that 60-70 percent of the gas produced at the regasification unit will be exported through the new Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) pipeline in reverse flow to Bulgaria, if not sent further.
