The Minister of Environment and Energy underlined the role of Greece in improving the energy security of the countries of the region and of the European Union with the infrastructure of Liquefied Natural Gas
By the end of the month, the Greece – Bulgaria natural gas pipeline (IGB)which will be inaugurated the day after tomorrow, Friday, in Komotini, in a ceremony in the presence of the prime ministers of the two countries, pointed out the Minister of Environment and Energy, Kostas Skrekasspeaking today at the Economist conference.
The minister underlined the role of Greece in improving the energy security of the countries of the region and of the European Union with the Liquefied Natural Gas infrastructures that are in operation as well as the new ones that are being planned, the natural gas pipeline East Med, the programs to upgrade the electrical interconnections with Bulgaria, Albania, Italy, as well as the construction of an electrical interconnection with Egypt, etc. He also noted that the Revythoussa station already covers daily up to 80% of the demand in Bulgaria. The new Greece-Bulgaria pipeline will have a transport capacity of 3 billion cubic meters of gas per year with the possibility of upgrading to 5 billion.
Mr. Skrekas described the plan for the security of the country’s supply, which includes the utilization of lignite production, the operation of five natural gas units with diesel as well as the expansion of the capacity of the Liquefied Natural Gas station in Revythoussa with the new floating tank that will be put into operation until the end of the month. As he mentioned, according to the European Commission’s analysis, Greece is one of the three EU countries that face the least risk in the event of an interruption in the supply of Russian natural gas.
IGB Executive Director Konos Karagiannakos stressed that the pipeline is already full of natural gas and once its licensing is completed it will start delivering natural gas to Bulgaria, creating a new natural gas corridor from south to north on the eve of the most critical winter for Europe’s energy security. Already, as he mentioned, gas piped from the Greek system reaches the countries of Central Europe, while the IGB and the start of operation of the new floating station of Liquefied Natural Gas in Alexandroupolis in 2023 they will further increase export potential.
The managing director of DESFA Maria Rita GallHe underlined that with the investments in compression stations and new interconnecting pipelines, our country’s natural gas export potential will increase from 2.3 to 8.5 billion cubic meters per year. He also reminded that after the interruption of supply to Bulgaria by Gazprom, Greece is the only source of supply to the neighboring country.
The need to accelerate investments for the discovery and exploitation of hydrocarbon deposits in the Eastern Mediterranean that will contribute to the improvement of energy security in Europe was pointed out by the Secretary General of the Eastern Mediterranean Natural Gas Forum, Osama Mobarez, noting that in the Nile Delta alone there are 200 trillion Cubic feet of natural gas.
Fabrizio Mattana, CEO of IGI Poseidon emphasized that the East Med pipeline has unique characteristics, as it can transport the proven natural gas reserves of the Eastern Mediterranean basin without intermediating transit from non-EU countries, is available for different export options and is also a mature project technically feasible and economically viable, designed to be able to host hydrogen, so it is an infrastructure with an eye to the future.
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