Filenews 9 June 2022
By Anastasia Vamvaka
The strategic position of the ports of Greece is mainly linked to international trade, with the country having more than 900 ports, 700 active. However, Greece in recent years has been upgrading its role on the global energy chessboard, with the Russo-Ukrainian war accelerating developments and needs.
With the recent prime ministerial visit to the White House sealing the dominant role of the port of Alexandroupolis in the supply of liquefied natural gas in the Balkans and Eastern Europe, Greece's overall position as a key ally in the effort for energy independence from Russia is strengthened.
The completion of the projects of the three liquefied gas terminals under construction and under approval (FSRU I, II and Gas Canal), combined with the upgrade of Revithoussa, which soon acquires a fourth tank, will also turn the country into an energy hub, after its dominant role in container transport.
Mr. Mitsotakis, during the dissent at the opening of the reception given in his honour in Washington, pointed out that "we are reducing our dependence on Russian hydrocarbons. The port of Alexandroupolis in northeastern Greece is only 500 miles from the Ukrainian border," adding that the capital of Evros "is rapidly becoming a regional energy hub and an entry point for Hydrogenated Natural Gas in the Balkans and Eastern Europe. And Greece plans to play an important role as a gateway to electricity produced from cheap, renewable sources, mainly from the sun, in the Middle East and Africa. And we are very happy that the U.S. has given its full support."
For his part, the US President, Joe Biden, said that "the two nations work together in all areas: climate and energy, trade, investment and defence, disaster response and much more", praising the role of Alexandroupolis in the discussions.
Southern Corridor
Crossing six countries and with a length of 3,500 km, the Southern Gas Corridor is one of the most complex natural gas value chains ever developed. With the participation of more than a dozen leading energy companies, the Southern Corridor consists of individual energy projects with a total investment of €40 billion. The Southern Corridor has an important role to play in the transport of natural gas to the Balkans and rest of Europe, in order for it to become independent from Moscow.
In the coming months, once the IGB, the Greece-Bulgaria interconnector, has been operational [likely from June], increasingly liquefied gas from the US, Qatar, Egypt, Algeria and elsewhere will arrive in the Balkans.
In November 2023, "Orpheus", the first floating platform (FSRU) for the storage and gasification of liquefied natural gas (LNG) will "dock" off the port of Alexandroupolis. The length of "Orpheus" is 300 m. and will anchor at a distance of 17.6 kilometres from the coast, at a point where the waters are 40 meters deep, to become a permanent – nodal for Greece and Southeastern Europe – natural gas feeder. Every two weeks a large tanker loaded with 145,000-180,000 cubic metres will dock to him with the help of tugs. LNG. From Alexandroupolis, with underwater pipelines from the hulls of the ship, the gas will be transported to the shore and from there it will be channelled to the National Natural Gas Transmission System, but also to another point with TAP. From Komotini, through the IGB, it will be driven to Bulgaria, Romania, possibly Ukraine, while at the height of Thessaloniki another branch will drive natural gas to North Macedonia.
In addition to pipelines, the FSRU will be able to tranship LNG on smaller boats, with a storage capacity of 3,000-20,000 cubic metres, which will approach the port of Alexandroupolis and from there will supply natural gas to trucks for the transport of LNG to customers outside the network, while transhipment on trains can operate accordingly. The total budget of the investment of the FSRU of Alexandroupolis amounts to approximately €400,000,000, with the support of the EU, and apart from Greece, Bulgaria (with a percentage of 20%) and Cyprus participate.
The U.S. side sees the northern Greek city as the basis for further weakening Moscow's energy sovereignty. Based on the capacity of the floating terminals of Alexandroupolis together with Revithoussa, a total capacity of 21.4 billion cubic metrs of LNG is obtained, capable of making Greece a net exporter of natural gas.
"Port Egnatia": Igoumenitsa, Thessaloniki, Kavala and Alexandroupolis
Equally important, however, is the exploitation of the potential of the ports of Igoumenitsa, Thessaloniki and Kavala, as it is a crucial parameter for economic and social development with various and multiplier benefits both at the level of Northern Greece and at national and European level. The interconnection of the ports through the Egnatia Odos and their connection to the railway network is particularly beneficial, as it will lead to the upgrading of the strategic role of the ports and will change the transport map as a whole. The new European Corridors under planning (Western Balkans and Baltic - Black Sea - Aegean) create new data for the ports of Egnatia, as, when the multimodal connections are completed, freight goods and energy will be transported through Egnatia to and from the Balkans, Eastern Europe and the Baltic states. A negative development, which creates new delays, seems to be the re-evaluation of a tendering procedure in the light of international developments and regulatory obligations in the energy market for the underground natural gas storage in Kavala.
Source: Forbes
