DESFA to launch new small scale LNG station in Aspro Skydras | LNG Industry

Oct 22, 2024

Published by Jessica Casey, Editor LNG Industry, Wednesday, 17 Jul 24

The project of the LNG storage and gasification station facilities developed by DESFA for the supply of the region of Central and Western Macedonia has been completed. The new station, which constitutes the first regional LNG storage and gasification station for supplying the local natural gas network in Greece, was inaugurated by DESFA on 12 July, in Aspro Skydras.

The Aspros LNG station developed by DESFA provides another reliable and sustainable energy option to a number of new areas and users in the wider region of Central and Western Macedonia, contributing to the fight against energy isolation and strengthening the competitiveness of local industry. Among the first beneficiaries of the new facility are the canned fruit and vegetable company, Kronos, the canning industry, DANAIS S.A., the General Hospital of Edessa, and the distribution stations for the low pressure networks of the cities of Skydra and Edessa. The operator of the natural gas distribution network in the specific cities has been taken over by the Hengas company.

The LNG station will benefit the region until the Western Macedonia Pipeline is put into operation, the flagship project of DESFA that will ensure the smooth transition of the Central and Western Macedonia Regions to the post-lignite era, providing access initially to natural gas, and then to hydrogen and other renewable gases. This type of installation is reusable and can be moved to other areas where the natural gas network does not yet have access.

The new infrastructure comes to add a new important link in the value chain of small scale LNG infrastructures developed by DESFA. Recently, the Revythoussa LNG truck loading station, the first such facility in Southeast Europe, completed 104 LNG truck loadings since the start of commercial operation in November 2023, safely supplying remote users and industrial facilities in Greece and the wider region with over 4675 m3 of LNG – 30 139 MWh of equivalent energy.

The Aspros LNG storage and regasification facility is the first of a series of similar facilities planned to be implemented in the next period by DESFA, in accordance with the company's 10-Year Development Plan 2023 – 2032.

During the inauguration, the Deputy Minister of Agricultural Development and Food, Dionysios Stamenitis, the MPs of Pella, Vasilios (Lakis) Vassiliadis and Theodora Tzakri, the Deputy Regional Governor of Pella, Iordanis Tzatzis , the Mayor of Skydra, Katerina Ignatiadou, the Director of Infrastructure Development addressed DESFA, Ioannis Chomatas, the President and CEO of Engas, Vasiliki (Vicky) Lampropoulou, as well as representatives of the companies that undertook the construction of the station, Andrea Barbieri, General Manager of Technogas, and Anestis Angelidis, CEO of Promethan.

The CEO of DESFA, M. R. Galli, said: “The new LNG station in Aspro gives direct access to natural gas in Central and Western Macedonia, significantly enhancing the competitiveness of the local industry and improving its carbon footprint. It belongs to a new generation of gas infrastructure that allows natural gas to penetrate new areas and markets in a flexible and cost-effective way, and can also be used for bio-methane, helping to promote the circular economy. We are proud that through our infrastructure, we provide reliable energy solutions so that energy reaches everywhere. At the same time, we allow Central and Western Macedonia to be among the first regions to utilise the potential of renewable gas sources, opening up new opportunities for sustainable development.”

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