Greece's gas export capacity may rise to 8.5bn m³/yr in two years, supporting energy diversification in neighbouring countries, Greek system operator Desfa's chief executive, Maria Rita Galli, told Argus.
The ongoing construction and expansion of compressors that will allow higher south-to-north flows in Greece, combined with the integration of the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) and the Alexandroupolis LNG terminal with the Greek grid, could lift Greece's export capacity to 8.5bn m³/yr from its existing 2.3bn m³/yr in two years, Galli said.
Desfa plans to support Greece's role as a transit route, particularly for LNG to reach central Europe, Galli said.
The system operator recently expanded the Revithoussa LNG terminal's storage capacity to 370,000m³ of LNG from 225,000m³ of LNG previously, and increased its sendout capacity to 224.6 GWh/d from about 207 GWh/d from 1 June, enabling higher exports to neighbouring countries.
And Desfa earlier this month allocated all slots offered at Revithoussa for next year, while Galli expects increased demand for capacity in 2024 and 2025 from Greek and international firms.
Desfa is also building a compressor unit in Komotini, required to connect the IGB — which for now receives gas only from the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline — with the Greek system. The investment will enable Alexandroupolis to export 3bn m³/yr to Bulgaria initially, "and potentially with a small expansion at our compressor station this can reach up to 5bn m³/yr", Galli said.
Even before this work takes place, upgrades at a pipeline that connects southern and northern Greece "in terms of pressure will increase our ability to export up to 3.5bn m³/yr", she said.
Greek exports to Bulgaria totalled 20.4TWh (1.93bn m³) in January-September, well up from 5.17TWh a year earlier, data from Desfa show.
Companies try to minimise costs and proceed with what is strictly needed "in a competitive environment", but security of supply also needs to be considered, "which sometimes is not exactly in line with solutions that come from a pure short-term cost-optimisation perspective", Galli said.
Opposition and delays to infrastructure projects have slowed progress with investments that if they were now available "would represent a significant way of reducing dependence on Russian gas", Galli said, arguing that Greece is in a better position than neighbouring countries. "If you don't have redundancy in the system, meaning ability to replace one import route with another, then you are more exposed."
Galli also highlighted the importance of co-operation between transmission system operators (TSOs), providing as an example the case of Bulgaria. Desfa and Bulgarian system operator Bulgartransgaz worked quickly to allow Greece to switch to gas exports to Bulgaria from imports previously. "In many circumstances we had to make difficult decisions, which were possible because of the long-lasting relationship between the two TSOs," she said.
More projects to come
Desfa has completed a successful market test for a gas interconnection with North Macedonia, while more domestic pipelines could be included in the firm's new development plan, Galli told Argus.
During the market test for capacity on the Greek side of the proposed pipeline with North Macedonia, Desfa "received sufficient requests to guarantee a positive outcome", Galli said.
Desfa plans to start the construction phase next year, and expects these works to be completed in 2025.
And more domestic pipelines will be needed to accommodate new inflows from proposed floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs). "With the Alexandroupolis FSRU and the compressor stations that we are developing, we will exhaust the ability of our grid to accommodate new import points," Galli said. "Thus, the next phase requires not only compressors but also pipelines," some of which will be included in the new development plan due to be submitted next month and will be linked to a positive financial investment decision for the proposed new FSRUs, Galli said.
But Galli acknowledged that Greek regulator RAE's plans for recouping costs for a planned underground storage facility in Kavala are a source of disagreement within the sector. That framework "does not make the implementation of this crucial investment economically viable for any private investor to take over this project", Galli said. Desfa is still participating in the project, as it sees a strategic role not only for gas storage but also for the storage of hydrogen as part of the country's energy transition strategy, Galli said.
Desfa recently completed a hydrogen readiness assessment of the existing network, while all new pipelines will be 100pc hydrogen compatible.
