LNG

Bulgaria said that work had begun on the construction of a new Bulgaria-Serbia Balkan natural gas interconnector with plans for the pipeline to become operational in October 2023 and to enable supplies to come from two Greek LNG import terminals.

These links to the expanding Balkan natural gas market will come from the existing Greek LNG import terminal at Revithoussa operated by the Hellenic Gas Transmission System Operator (DESFA) near Athens, and the proposed new floating LNG project at Alexandroupolis in eastern Greece.

The 170 kilometres (105.6 miles) Bulgaria-Serbia interconnector is separate from the TurkStream link of Russian natural gas supplier Gazprom and will run from the Bulgarian capital Sofia via Dimitrovgrad in Serbia to the city of Nis in southern Serbia, giving the Serbs a non-Russian supply option for the first time.

It will enable Serbia to import natural gas via Greece and Bulgaria from the Southern Gas Corridor bringing gas from Azerbaijan on the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) to southern Europe and as regasified LNG from the two Greek LNG terminals.

The Bulgaria-Serbia interconnector is supported by the European Union as a Project of Common Interest and has secured a €49.5 million ($56.5M) grant from the EU.

The EU grant comes from the EU Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance as Serbia is not an EU member is simply in the “waiting room”.

The Bulgaria-Serbia pipeline has also secured €25M from the European Investment Bank loan of €25M.

Regasfied LNG

The pipeline will have a capacity of 1.8 billion cubic metres per annum in the direction Bulgaria-Serbia with the possibility also of reverse flow.

There are additional plans for a new interconnector to link the gas grids of Greece and the former Yugoslav nation of North Macedonia.

The gas grid operators of the two countries in September 2021 signed a new gas cooperation agreement, a key step ahead of construction of the new link.

The 123 km pipeline will have an initial capacity of 1.5 Bcm per annum with possible doubling of capacity. A final investment decision is expected before the end of the second quarter of 2022.

The Balkans have been historically dependent on Russian gas imports, though can also receive gas from Azerbaijan on the TAP pipeline and regasified LNG from the Revithoussa terminal.

Greece's Gastrade at the end of January 2022 took the final investment decision for the planned 5.5 Bcm per annum floating LNG import terminal at Alexandroupolis in northern Greece, paving the way for the project to begin operations by the end of 2023.

Gastrade SA, the Greek company developing an FLNG facility, took the FID with joint venture partners, including Bulgaria’s transmission company Bulgartransgaz.

GasLog FSRU

The FSRU will be provided by Greek shipping company GasLog and be connected to the DEFSA system by a 28km pipeline.

Regasified LNG entering the terminal will be able to flow onward to other markets in the region.

Bulgaria is also building a new interconnector with Greece called the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) allowing Azerbaijan's gas on the TAP pipeline to flow northward to Bulgaria and for the regasified Greek LNG to reach Bulgaria and then Serbia.

The IGB pipeline is scheduled to come on stream in July 2022.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov has just completed a visit to Serbia to discuss energy issues and the pipelines and LNG supplies with his Serbian counterpart, Ana Brnabić.

“There is great potential to create a single gas trade market involving Bulgaria, Serbia, North Macedonia and Greece,” stated Petkov during his visit to the Serbian capiatl Belgrade.

“We need to bring together the volumes of gas consumption in the whole region so that we can negotiate together for lower prices,” Petkov told a joint news conference with Serbian PM Brnabić.

“Our gas connectivity will be a huge priority. The Greek connection is very important for Bulgaria, and through the connection with Serbia you will have the opportunity to receive LNG and Azerbaijani gas,” added Petkov.

Brnabić, who attended the ceremony to mark the start of the pipeline construction, said that the gas pipeline would be ready for operation by October 2023, coinciding with the start-up of the Alexandroupolis FLNG facility.

Petkov told the news conference that Serbia’s future membership of the EU was a huge priority for Bulgaria.

Brnabić thanked Petkov for making the visit, saying that he was the first Bulgarian head of government to come to next-door neighbour Serbia since 2013.

Liqvis GmbH, the liquefied natural gas fuel subsidiary of German utility Uniper, has signed another contract with its Dutch cryogenic systems designer to establish 16 skid-mounted public LNG fuelling stations in Germany and France.

Spanish energy company Repsol has started the construction of the liquefied natural gas bunkering terminal in the northwest Spanish port of Bilbao to supply the Brittany Ferries company and its LNG-powered vessels linking to port in Northern France, the UK and Ireland.

The first two vessels to be provided for are the “Salamanca” and the “Santoña”, which will start their operations in 2022 and 2023 respectively. The Bilbao terminal will also supply other ships with LNG fuel in the future.

“The construction of this terminal is part of the long-term collaboration agreement formalized in 2019 between Repsol and Brittany Ferries for the supply of LNG to their operations in Spain,” Repsol explained.

This facility is scheduled to be commissioned in the first half of 2022.

The Bilbao terminal will have a cryogenic tank with a storage capacity of 1,000 cubic metres.

“The flexible design of the terminal will allow it to service different vessels in the future, representing an important decarbonization opportunity for port operations,” stated Repsol.

Joint effort

The Spanish company said the start of construction is on schedule thanks to the efficient collaboration between Repsol's engineering teams, the different administrations involved and the Port Authority of Bilbao.

Repsol said it was commited to industrial development for fuel and the bunkering venture involves an investment of more than €10 million ($11.7M).

Repsol is also planting the construction of a second LNG bunkering at another northwest port, Santander. It will have the same capacity as Bilbao and is being developed in cooperation with the Port Authority of Santander.

Work has already begun on the conditioning of the quay where the bunker station will be located.

Both terminals are co-financed by the European Commission through the CEF-Connecting Europe Facilities Programme.

Spain currently has six operational LNG import and storage terminals around the coastline and they will provide supplies of fuel.

Repsol cited data from the Iberian Association of Natural Gas for Mobility (Gasnam), showing that the current fleet of LNG-powered ships worldwide is 221, which represents 70 percent growth compared with the 131 ships that were sailing in 2018.

Grupo HAM of Spain, the LNG and gas fuel infrastructure company, said its subsidiary in Chile has been chosen to design, construct and commission the South American nation’s first LNG filling station.

Cyprus has held a foundation stone-laying ceremony at the site of the Mediterranean Island’s first LNG import terminal being built at Vasilikos port near Limassol by a Chinese company and partly financed by the European Union.

Höegh LNG, the Norwegian project company and fleet owner, has applied for an infrastructure ownership, operations and development licence for a joint venture at the port of Vasilikos on the Mediterranean Island of Cyprus with the aim of having an operational termiinal online in about a year.

Supplies of liquefied natural gas as a maritime fuel for vessels passing the Strait of Gibraltar and the development of infrastructure were considered at a European Union-backed meeting at the Spanish port of Algeciras.

A European joint venture to promote LNG fuel for road transport, including companies such as Royal Dutch Shell and truck-makers Scania and Iveco, said it plans to expand the network of filling stations.