Decreased by 21.56% compared to 2022 was the total demand for natural gas in Greece, according to DESFA data for 2023 according to DESFA accounting data for the past year.

The Revythoussa Terminal was again the main natural gas import gateway into the country during this period, followed by the entry point of Sidirokastro, whose flows decreased by 20.82% compared to the same period last year.

Specifically, according to DESFA data, the total demand (domestic consumption and exports) of natural gas decreased by 21.56%, reaching 67.60 Terawatt hours (TWh) from 86.18 TWh in 2022. A decrease of 10.13 % recorded in domestic consumption from 56.65 Terawatt hours (TWh) to 50.91 TWh, while natural gas exports decreased by 43.48% from 29.53 Terawatt hours (TWh) to 16.69 TWh.

Natural gas imports amounted to 67.71 TWh, registering a decrease of 21.41% compared to 86.16 TWh in 2022. The largest quantities entered the country from the Revythoussa LNG Terminal, which covered 43.55% of imports.

In particular, approximately 28.52 TWh of LNG were unloaded from 41 tankers from 7 countries. The USA remained the largest importer of LNG in our country (10.75 TWh) with a percentage of 37.69%. In second place were imports from Russia (8.38 TWh), followed by Egypt (3.5 TWh), Algeria (3.47 TWh), Norway (0.97 TWh), Nigeria (0. 94 TWh) and Spain (0.51 TWh).

Regarding the contribution of the remaining entry points, the Sidirokastro entry point covered 34.6% of imports (23.43 TWh), followed by the Nea Mesimvria entry point, which, through the TAP pipeline, covered 18, 44% of imports (12.49 TWh). Finally, Evros Gardens covered 3.39% of imports (2.3 TWh).

Regarding the categories of natural gas consumers, the largest part of domestic consumption (67.84%) corresponds to the consumption of electricity production units, followed by household consumers and companies connected to the distribution networks with a percentage of 21.98%. Finally, domestic industries and CNG stations, which are directly connected to DESFA’s high-pressure system, increased their use of natural gas by 84.34% compared to last year, covering 10.17% of domestic consumption for 2023.

“DESFA’s infrastructures have substantially contributed to the diversification of natural gas supply sources and to strengthening the level of security of supply both in Greece and in the wider region”, emphasizes the Administrator. “The liberalization of the energy market and the regulated third-party access regime, under which DESFA provides access to ESFA, promotes the competition of natural gas suppliers to the benefit of the end consumer.”