Project developer Mediterranean Gas expects to reach a final investment decision (FID) on its proposed Argo floating storage and regasification unit in the area of Volos in June 2023, the firm's chief executive Basilio Petkidis told Argus.
This will follow the basic front-end engineering design (FEED) study due for completion this quarter, the chief executive said.
If an FID is reached, the developer plans to commence construction work in the third quarter of 2023, and to commission the facility in the first quarter of 2025.
Mediterranean Gas is yet to finalise closure for the FSRU as it is still "evaluating different available technical solutions", Petkidis said. "We will soon conclude to a final decision regarding the purchase or leasing."
Mediterranean Gas earlier this month launched the non-binding phase of its open season, during which interested parties can express interest in reserving LNG capacity at the planned terminal until 19 December. There will then be a second, binding phase.
The developer is offering bundled and unbundled services, small-scale LNG and truck-loading services as separate products covering 1-25 years.
Mediterranean Gas had initially planned to locate the FSRU at the city's port, but has now identified a new location in the wider area of Volos. Although the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund — which holds 100pc of the shares in the Volos port authority — had not specifically objected to the original plan, it had stated that "for the specific site, the company would have to follow certain procedures through the fund and that the company had not begun this process", Petkidis said.
According to Petkidis, Volos "was chosen strategically" because of its location in the centre of mainland Greece, its active industrial zone and its proximity to cross-border lines such as the Trans-Adriatic pipeline. The terminal will also be close to the trans-European transport network, which could facility LNG transportation on trucks.
The proposed FSRU terminal would have approximately 170,000m³ of LNG storage capacity and would be able to send up to 5.2bn m³/yr of regasified supply into the grid.
This supply could be sent through "cross-border pipelines to Albania, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Romania, but also to Italy", Petkidis said.
Greek gas system operator Desfa last summer launched a consultation on "advanced" capacity reservations at a future grid entry point from the Argo FSRU, offering 149 GWh/d of entry capacity to the Greek grid.
"This amount corresponds to the capacity of Argo," Petkidis said, adding that Desfa "is proceeding with the hydraulic simulation analysis and will revert".
Mediterranean Gas has a strategic alliance with ExxonMobil LNG, and the two firms recently signed an amendment to a previous memorandum of understanding.
The amendment expands the two parties' co-operation to "facilitate the development of the purchase of LNG from supplier ExxonMobil LNG", Petkidis said. And the parties wish to extend the duration of LNG supply to 20 years, he added.
