LNG

Svitzer, a subsidiary of the Danish shipping group A.P. Moller-Maersk and a leading provider of towage, has signed a 15-year agreement to service Gastrade’s Alexandroupolis Independent Natural Gas System LNG terminal offshore the northeast coast of Greece.

Two Balkan natural gas and utility companies, Albania's Albgaz and Bulgaria's Overgas, have signed an accord to cooperate on projects to diversify supplies in the region at an event attended by former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Pompeo attended as the Chairman of US company Linden Energy’s Advisory Board. Linden has agreed to take a 50 percent stake in Overgas subject to regulatory approval.

The accord outlined the parameters of the planned Albanian-Bulgarian cooperation to secure natural gas from non-Russian sources via commercially viable projects driven by the private sector.

“We are excited to begin working with a fellow regional gas company such as Albgaz. The signing of this agreement is a first step in regional cooperation to diversify gas supply to the Balkans,” said Svetoslav Ivanov, Executive Director of Overgas.

The agreement was signed in the Albanian capital Tirana and representatives of each company attended along with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama.

Linden Energy was represented by Stephen Payne, the company's President and company founder and by former Secretary of State Pompeo.

The US company in July 2021 signed an agreement to acquire 50 percent of Overgas, the independent Bulgarian gas trading company and Bulgaria’s largest privately-owned gas firm.

Linden Energy is focusing on energy project development and was founded in 2013 by Payne.

LNG record

“Payne has a history in the international energy sector as he has negotiated over 27 million tonnes per annum of LNG sales, was instrumental in the development of several large LNG export projects in the US and several major international pipelines,” said the statement on the signing event.

It noted that Linden has other projects under consideration in Eastern Europe and South Asia.

Linden Energy is additionally a 10 percent capacity holder in the Gas Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) pipeline.

“As one of the only US companies involved in the Balkans gas trade, Linden Energy is excited to take this first step as part of Overgas in partnership with Albgaz,” stated Payne.

Secretary Pompeo said that at a time of great uncertainty in the European energy market he was proud to be a part of a team that is addressing this issue head-on.

“The Balkan region is one of the most vulnerable in terms of the lack of energy diversity and the signing of this accord is a strong step in the right direction,” Pompeo declared.

Greece’s Copelouzos Group has signed contracts for the implementation of a gas-fired combined-cycle power plant planned for the eastern Greek port of Alexandroupolis where an offshore LNG import terminal is planned.

Copelouzos said the contracts were for the supply and the long-term maintenance of the main equipment for the 840-megawatts facility being developed along with Greece’s Damco Energy SA and General Electric of the US.

The floating LNG terminal is a separate project from the onshore power plant and is being developed by Greek company Gastrade.

The Alexandroupolis LNG floating storage and regasification unit will have storage capacity of 170,000 cubic metres and regasification capacity of at least 5.5 billion cubic metres of natural gas per annum.

The FSRU will be moored in an offshore area about 17.6 kilometres southwest of the port of Alexandroupolis.

The floating unit will be connected to the Greek National Natural Gas Transmission grid through a pipeline system of a total length of 28km.

Copelouzos said that for its power plant project the company subsidiary Ilektroparagogi Alexandroupolis SA will be responsible for the implementation of the investment and construction will start before the end of 2021 and be completed by the spring of 2024.

Copelouzos added that the building of the gas-fired plant would strengthen the local economy as well as when operation start.

“During the construction 600 people are going to be employed, while it is estimated that 90 permanent job positions will be created during the whole lifetime of the project,” explained Copelouzos.

“In addition, and in conjunction the other projects of the Copelouzos Group, the unit will make the area of Alexandroupolis an energy hub, a fact that will attract further investments and result in economic growth and prosperity of the greater area,” it stated.