LNG

Blue Grid, an Athens-based company leading the development of the LNG and alternative fuels market in southeast Europe, has joined the Molgas group of companies after receiving a significant investment.

Blue Grid, incorporated in 2017, is developing alternative fuels supply chains delivering environmental, economic, and operational benefits to a wide range of customers.

The company’s current activity focuses on supplying LNG as a fuel to three main customer segments in industry, road transport and for marine bunkering.

Blue Grid said its broader scope includes LNG, renewable methane and bioLNG.

Molgas is a leading downstream supplier of LNG in Europe, providing volumes to over 200 industrial customers, 34 LNG fuelling stations, as well as a growing number of marine customers.

The company is active in eight countries in Europe, including Norway through its fully owned subsidiary Gasnor, a company acquired from Shell in 2021.

Molgas, which has its headquarters in Madrid, is owned by funds managed by InfraVia Capital Partners, a Paris-based private equity firm specializing in infrastructure investments.

As a new part of Molgas, Blue Grid said it would focus on accelerating growth in LNG and bioLNG supply in the broader region of southeast Europe and the East Mediterranean.

“The Molgas investment comes at an opportune time, considering the imminent commissioning of the Revithoussa truck-loading terminal, anticipated for the summer of 2022, which will allow reliable and competitive supply of LNG to final customers in the SE European region,” said Blue Grid.

The Hellenic Gas Transmission System Operator (DESFA) is the owner of the Revithoussa LNG terminal.

DESFA is also constructing a small-scale LNG reloading jetty on Revithoussa island and it is expected to be operational by the end of 2023.

Piraeus bunkering

Blue Grid said it aimed to be one of the first physical suppliers of LNG to marine customers in the Port of Piraeus, and to this end, is planning to have an LNG bunkering vessel available in alignment with the commissioning of the jetty.

“We are proud to have Molgas onboard, and view this investment as a vote of confidence in the work that we have been doing in the region over the past years” said Sofoklis Papanikolaou, founder and Chief Executive of Blue Grid.

Fernando Sarasola, the Chief Executive of Molgas, said that southeast European was the next frontier for small-scale LNG and alternative fuels.

“Blue Grid is perfectly positioned to capture this market. We are very excited to be joining our forces and I am confident that together we will be bringing a lot of value to a wide range of customers,” added Sarasola.

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.

Feb 8 (LNGJ) - Sonatrach, the Algerian oil and gas company and Public Gas Corp. of Greece AE (DEPA) have confirmed the extension of an LNG supply contract relating to the sale and purchase of LNG for delivery to Greece from the North African nation’s Skikda LNG plant. The existing contract was for cost, insurance, and freight (CIF) shipments to Greece's onshore Revithoussa terminal.

   “In addition to the delivery of LNG cargoes to the Greek energy group DEPA, the agreement also provides for a readjustment of the existing contractual terms in accordance with current and future developments in the energy markets,” said Sonatrach.

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.

Greek company Gastrade, the lead developer of a joint venture floating LNG terminal offshore Greece’s northeast port of Alexandroupolis to serve the Balkans, has signed accords with two utilities in North Macedonia, a part of the former Yugoslavia until 1991 when it became an independent state.