GasLog, the Monaco-based owner and operator of LNG carriers, has agreed to purchase 20 percent shareholding in Gastrade, the company licensed to develop an FSRU project offshore Alexandroupolis in northern Greece.
Gastrade, a private limited company owned by Asimina-Eleni Copelouzou, has been involved in the development of this FSRU project over a number of years, GasLog said in its statement.
Besides becoming a shareholder, GasLog will also provide operations and maintenance services for the FSRU through an O&M agreement.
Gastrade is currently in discussions with a number of additional potential investors, including DEPA, the Greek state owned gas company, Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH), the holding company of the Bulgarian Ministry of Energy and major gas suppliers.
Other large scale international companies have expressed an intention to participate in the ownership and development of the terminal, with a number of companies expressing interest in supplying LNG to the project, GasLog said.
The FSRU project would provide a new route and a source of gas diversification to a number of European countries that are currently highly dependent on pipeline gas in South East and Central Europe.
As such, the project has the backing of the Greek and the Bulgarian governments as well as the support of the EU, as it has been assigned the status of an EU Project of Common Interest (PCI), that is further designated as a priority EU energy infrastructure project.
The front-end engineering and design (FEED) study is expected to be part-funded by an EU grant, and is scheduled to commence in early 2017.
Gastrade targets to take the final investment decision by the end of 2017 with the FSRU scheduled to be operational by the end of 2019, GasLog adds.