Gastrade’s FSRU-based LNG import terminal off Greece’s Alexandroupolis will receive its first cargo of liquefied natural gas on Friday.
“GasLog Hong Kong is indeed scheduled to arrive at Alexandroupolis on Friday, February 16 bearing the commissioning cargo for the Alexandroupolis FSRU,” a spokeswoman for Gastrade confirmed to LNG Prime on Wednesday.
“We will provide further information once STS operations have commenced,” she said.
LNG Prime reported on Tuesday that the 2018-built 174,000-cbm LNG carrier, GasLog Hong Kong, is expected to arrive at the 153,600-cbm Alexandroupolis late on February 15, its AIS data provided by VesselsValue showed.
The LNG carrier, chartered by France’s TotalEnergies, previously picked up a cargo at Sempra’s Cameron LNG plant in Louisiana.
TotalEnergies is a shareholder in Cameron LNG which has a capacity of about 12 mtpa of LNG.
Last month, Gastrade said that the arrival of the commissioning cargo at its FSRU-based LNG import terminal off Alexandroupolis had been postponed due to bad weather.
The firm previously expected to receive the commissioning cargo on January 20.
Gatsrade’s shareholders include founder Copelouzou, DESFA, DEPA, Bulgartransgaz, and GasLog.
Shareholder and Greek LNG shipping firm GasLog told Singapore’s Keppel Offshore & Marine, now Seatrium, in February 2022 to proceed with the conversion of the 2010-built, GasLog Chelsea, to an FSRU.
Seatrium’s yard in Singapore completed the conversion work on the 153,600-cbm Alexandroupolis in November last year.
Greece’s first FSRU arrived in Alexandroupolis from Singapore on December 17 and mooring hook-up was completed on December 23, 2023.
The FSRU is located in the sea of Thrace at a distance of 17.6 km SW from the port of Alexandroupolis and 10 km from the nearest coast of Makri. Also, it is connected to a high-pressure subsea and onshore gas transmission pipeline.
Once operational, the pipeline will deliver natural gas to the Greek transmission system and onwards to the final consumers in Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, North Macedonia, Serbia and further to Moldova and Ukraine to the East and Hungary and Slovakia to the West, Gastrade said.
The Alexandroupolis LNG terminal will have a capacity of 5.5 Bcm.
With this project, Greece will get its first FSRU and the second LNG import facility, adding to DESFA’s import terminal located on the island of Revithoussa.
In addition to this unit, Gastrade is also planning to install a second FSRU offshore Alexandroupolis.
(Article updated on Wednesday, February 14 to include a comment by a Gastrade spokeswoman.)
