Greece is gradually putting in place a liquefied natural gas distribution network capable of meeting the needs of households, small businesses, and industries, as well as heavy vehicles and trucks with LNG.

The opening of the LNG – Truck Loading Station at the liquefied gas storage facilities in Revythoussa is just the beginning.

In a first phase, tanker vehicles with a capacity of 42 tons will be taken by ferry boat from the port of Elefsina to Revythousa island where the LNG terminal lies. There they will fill up with LNG for transportation throughout Greece and beyond. At the end of 2023 movement to the DESFA facilities will be reduced from 60 to 20 minutes, as tankers will be transported by ferry boat from the port of Perama in Megarida, and in 2024 the time will drop to 10 minutes when the port of Armyra in Megara is ready .

It will thirty minutes to fill trucks, after the company they belong to book slots for turns at the Revythoussa storage areas. The slots will be scheduled every November 20th.

Supplying households and businesses

LNG became widely known during the energy crisis for its flexibility as well as the role it plays in securing the supply of countries after pipeline shutdowns. With the liquefaction technology, tankers transport it from the natural gas producing countries to special storage and gasification terminals. It is then released to the market via high pressure pipelines.

The benefits of LNG, such as its competitive cost compared to oil and natural gas pipelines as well as its low environmental footprint (a 90% reduction in nitrogen dioxide emissions and a 30% reduction in carbon dioxide), will be felt even by consumers who are not connected to natural gas distribution pipelines.

The managing director of DESFA, Maria Rita Gali, during yesterday’s opening of the TLS, noted the environmental benefits of LNG, while emphasizing that the station provides a flexible solution for supplying natural gas to municipalities, cities and industries. In mainland Greece the first candidate areas for the use of LNG are those of Western Macedonia and Western Greece, while already two industries, the Fthiotida Paper Mill and the dairy company “Kolios” in Kilkis, will utilize supplies from the Revythoussa station.

Facilities in ports

Ms. Gali also announced the investment of small scale LNG facilities for storage and supply of smaller tankers in the ports of Patras, Heraklion, Crete and Igoumenitsa. In this way, LNG will be used for fuel for ships and also for its transport to the islands in order to be used there by households and businesses.