Greek gas grid eyes hydrogen pipeline
Published by Sara Simper,
Editorial Assistant
World Pipelines,
Greek gas grid operator DESFA wants to build a €1 billion (US$1.12 billion) hydrogen pipeline that will connect Greece to Bulgaria, as part of a future European southeastern corridor, it said on Thursday 13 July.
The scheme, jointly proposed with Bulgaria, has passed an initial technical assessment by the European Commission, making it eligible for inclusion in a European list of projects of common interest, DESFA said in a presentation released on 13 July.
This puts "Greece, Spain and Italy at the same level with respect to the potential for the future role that these Mediterranean countries will play in providing infrastructure for hydrogen," DESFA Chief Executive, Maria Rita Galli told a news conference.
DESFA said that the 540 km pipeline will be part of a European corridor that will tap into big quantities of available solar and wind energy to connect regions with high potential for hydrogen production with central Europe and southern Germany, where significant demand is expected by 2030.
Following the war in Ukraine and cuts of Russian gas supply in Europe, Greece's role as a transit route for gas to Bulgaria and other central European countries has strengthened as many users opted to import LNG through the country's sole LNG terminal off Athens.
Nearly two-thirds of 6.5 billion m3 of gas that Greece consumes annually is used for electricity generation. While domestic gas consumption dropped by an annual 21.7% in the first half of the year, gas exports from Greece rose by 15%, the DESFA presentation showed. Greek imports of Russian pipeline gas dropped by 46% in the same period.
Read the latest issue of World Pipelines magazine for pipeline news, project stories, industry insight and technical articles.
World Pipelines’ July 2023 issue
Here’s a preview of the July 2023 issue of World Pipelines: the keynote article focuses on pipeline activity in South America; technical articles cover compressors, pipeline mapping and welding; and there’s insight into CO2 transport and HDD best practice.
Read the article online at: https://www.worldpipelines.com/project-news/14072023/greek-gas-grid-eyes-hydrogen-pipeline/
You might also like
World Pipelines Podcast: Going global with IPLOCA
In this episode, Elizabeth Corner speaks to Georges Hage, Executive Secretary at IPLOCA, about IPLOCA's insights on the culture and characteristics of the pipeline contractor community, and how it works to support sustainable energy infrastructure.
Energy industry faces short-term instability, yet remains optimistic about long-term prospects, DNV report reveals
The energy industry is braced for short-term uncertainty caused by global instability, but remains optimistic in the long-term, according to DNV’s annual Energy Industry Insights survey.
