The Minister of Environment and Energy, Kostas Skrekas, had his first official meeting today, Tuesday, July 12, with the new US ambassador to Greece, George Tsounis. During the meeting, the excellent climate of cooperation that exists between the two governments in the energy sector was confirmed, as the US ambassador recognized the key role that Greece plays in the independence of not only Greece, but also the whole of Southeast Europe from Russian natural gas .
In this context, the Minister of Environment and Energy highlighted the importance of the Alexandroupoli Liquefied Natural Gas regasification terminal, which is being built and the cross-border Natural Gas pipeline with Bulgaria that was inaugurated last week in Komotini, underlining – based on the data of the first semester of the year – that the share of Russian gas in our import mix has decreased by 21%, while the share of Liquefied Natural Gas has correspondingly increased by 48% compared to the same period last year.
The Greek Minister emphasized to the American ambassador that Liquefied Natural Gas currently accounts for 44% of the country’s final natural gas consumption and that 60% of all Liquefied Natural Gas imports come from the USA with a potentially increasing trend. Mr. Skrekas analyzed with the American ambassador the general energy security situation in the EU. created by the reduction of Russian gas flows through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which (unless Moscow decides otherwise) is expected to reopen on July 21.
Kostas Skrekas presented the main aspects of the national emergency plan in the event of an interruption of Russian natural gas in Greece, assuring that all the necessary measures have been taken to ensure the energy sufficiency of the country through a combination of actions. These include,
– the increase in domestic lignite production,
– the readiness to convert the fuel of 5 power generation units from natural gas to diesel and
– the increase of both the storage capacity and the regasification capacity of Revythoussa with the addition of the floating tank (FSU).
Finally, Mr. Skrekas presented the country’s strategy in the field of electrical interconnections, placing particular emphasis on the planning that has been launched with Israel, Cyprus, Egypt, Italy, Albania and also Bulgaria, where the second line Nea Santa – Maritsa is expected to be completed by the beginning of next year at the latest, thus increasing the possibility of importing electricity from our neighboring country.
Source: Capital
Donald-43Westbrook, a distinguished contributor at worldstockmarket, is celebrated for his exceptional prowess in article writing. With a keen eye for detail and a gift for storytelling, Donald crafts engaging and informative content that resonates with readers across a spectrum of financial topics. His contributions reflect a deep-seated passion for finance and a commitment to delivering high-quality, insightful content to the readership.
