Gastrade postpones deadline for delivery of Alexandroupolis FSRU

The terms for expressions of interest for delivering a floating storage and regasification unit for Greek-based utlity company Gastrade’s pivotal LNG hub and terminal at the Greek port of Alexandroupolis have been revised after the delivery date was extended by six months.

Without providing further details, late last week Gastrade deferred the deadline for expressions of interest for supplying the FSRU until 15 February 2019. Thereafter Gastrade will draw up a short list of preferred contractors to build the vessel, which is estimated to cost around €240M (US$275M).

However, Gastrade still plans on taking a final investment decision in Q2 2019 and is aiming for the FSRU to be completed in Q1 2021, with a start-up date about three months later.

The vessel, which will be stationed in the sea of Thrace about 10 km offshore in waters 40 m deep, will have a storage capacity of up to 170,000 m³ and a peak send-out rate of up to 950,000 m³ an hour. Among other specifications Gastrade requires that the carrier to be converted into the FSRU must have been built no earlier than 2010.

The surprise postponement follows a successful test of the market’s interest in booking the vessel’s regasification capacity. By the deadline on the last day of 2018, 20 companies had submitted expressions of interest for up to 12.2Bn m³ a year. That is more than the technical capacity of the FSRU, according to Gastrade.

“The highly successful outcome of the first phase of the market test and the great interest expressed for the Alexandroupolis LNG project by many important regional and international gas players is an essential step for the implementation of the project,” said Gastrade managing director Konstantinos Spyropoulos.

Known in full as the Alexandroupolis Independent Natural Gas System, the project comprises the FSRU and several kilometres of subsea and onshore gas transmission pipelines that enable the gas to be hooked up for delivery to a variety of destinations. The project has been supported by the European Commission as a key element in its strategy of achieving energy independence from non-EU suppliers such as Russia.