Greek company Gastrade has signed agreements for the cooperation with National Energy Resources (NER AD) Skopje and AD Power Plants of Northern Macedonia (AD ESM) for the Alexandroupolis LNG Terminal.
Gastrade is developing the LNG floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) offshore Alexandroupolis in Greece with LNG storage capacity of 170 000 cubic metres and a natural gas supply capacity that will exceed 5.5 billion cubic metres per year.
The LNG Terminal in Alexandroupolis is expected to be operational in 2023.
NER AD wants to acquire a share in the share capital of Gastrade, whilst AD ESM is interested in reserving capacity at the Terminal on a long-term basis.
The FSRU will be connected to the National Natural Gas System of Greece via a 28 kilo metres long pipeline, through which the regasified LNG will be transmitted to the markets of Greece, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, and the wider region from Serbia and Romania to Hungary, Moldova, and Ukraine.
This is a European Project of Common Interest, a priority project of the European Union, which strengthens security of supply, diversifies sources and routes of energy supply, enhances competition and supports the establishment of a natural gas trading hub in the wider region of Southeastern Europe. The project supports the other existing or planned key gas infrastructure projects in the region such as the Greece-Bulgaria interconnector (IGB), the Greece-North Macedonia interconnector, TAP, the Bulgaria-Serbia interconnector (IBS) and the Revithoussa LNG Terminal.
Gastrade’s existing shareholders are Mrs. Elmina Copelouzou with 40 per cent, Gaslog Cyprus Investments, DEPA Commercial and Bulgartransgaz EAD each with 20 per cent.
Konstantinos Spyropoulos , Gastrade’s managing director, stated: “ We are happy to join our forces with both NER AD and AD ESM in the project. Today’s signing of the agreement is to the mutual benefit of our companies and most importantly to the benefit of the consumers in the Republic of North Macedonia and of the Western Balkans. We are looking forward in making this agreement a basis for further expanding the reach of our Project taking also advantage of North Macedonia’s strategic location as a gateway to the markets of the Western Balkans. We are proud to add to the ties of our two Countries and to support the regional cooperation and understanding in our neighborhood. We are confident that we can work constructively together in strengthening the energy diversification and independence of our region..”