With a floating liquefied gas terminal, Greece wants to supply itself and other countries in Southeast Europe with gas from 2023. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, EU Council President Charles Michel and the main Politicians from Bulgaria, Serbia and North Macedonia watched the start of construction work on the offshore platform south of the port city of Alexandroupolis on Tuesday.
“The project is a milestone for Europe’s energy,” Michel said at the ceremony. The floating platform reduces dependence on Russian natural gas. The EU will continue to fund these projects, Michel assured. Mitsotakis promised to replace gas from Russian sources soon. The recent “Moscow blackmail” would not succeed.
Bulgaria also participates in the project, which costs around 400 million euros. “The pressure that Moscow is exerting will accomplish nothing,” Prime Minister Kiril Petkov said. Only last week did Russia stop gas deliveries to Bulgaria and Poland. Athens then pledged support to its neighbor.
The floating terminal will have the capacity to handle around 5.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually. Candidates to supply the raw material include Algeria, Qatar, Egypt and the USA. The gas must be routed from Alexandroupolis through pipelines. The first delivery is scheduled for about 20 months from now.
“Speed of Light” in Germany
At the same time, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck wants two out of four floating LNG terminals to come into operation in Germany this year, writes Handelsblatt.
“Of course, the goal is for them to be connected this year – at the turn of the year,” Habeck told reporters in Brussels on Monday night.