Bulgarian energy ministry: The LNG terminal in Alexandroupolis will become operational on October 1

The liquefied gas terminal in Alexandroupolis, the opening of which has been delayed for half a year, will be put into operation on October 1. This was announced by the Bulgarian interim energy minister Vladimir Malinov, who together with representatives from the project company Gastrade S.A., inspected the completed facility, aboard the platform in Alexandroupolis, Greece.

After the technical defect connecting the LNG regasification platform to Alexandroupolis has been removed, the terminal will be put into operation on October 1, 2024. All licensing procedures have already been completed," the minister said.

By August 15, all companies that will deliver liquefied natural gas to the terminal must declare the number of cargoes, so that by the end of August, the exact slots for them will be allocated at the LNG terminal.

The commissioning of the Alexandroupolis terminal on October 1 will also coincide with the start of the upcoming district heating season.

The start of commercial operation of the terminal this autumn will give a competitive advantage and guarantee the security of gas supply for the upcoming winter season for the South-East Europe region in view of the potential stoppage of Russian natural gas through Ukrainian territory from the beginning of next year," commented Malinov. 

The project is of strategic importance as it will provide an important corridor for the supply of liquefied natural gas from alternative sources for the entire region

According to the original schedule, the terminal was supposed to be put into operation in April 2024. Following the start of the activities to connect the liquefied gas platform to the gas pipeline, a technical defect was found – namely, the presence of water in the pipeline. The malfunction was fixed using the so-called "non-intrusive method", by supplying gas in a controlled manner from the regasification platform to the gas transmission system of Greece. This did not impose additional financial costs on the project.

Bulgaria is a co-shareholder in the terminal, as its state gas supplier Bulgartransgaz owns 20% of the capital of the project operator Gastrade S.A. The facility is expected to deliver liquefied natural gas from the US and other countries to consumers in Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Serbia, Romania, Hungary, Moldova and Ukraine. The total throughput capacity of this new terminal is 5.5 billion cubic meters of gas per year (or a maximum delivery of 22 million cubic meters per day).

Translated by Tzvetozar Vincent Iolov