Greek energy groups PPC, DEPA Commercial and Damco Energy, a subsidiary of Copelouzos Group, have teamed up to start building an 840 MW natural gas power plant at the Aegean port of Alexandroupolis, Copelouzos Group said.

The plant will be directly linked to the floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at Alexandroupolis currently developed by Gastrade and will have the potential to supply markets in Greece and the wider Southeast Europe, Copelouzos Group said in a press release on Saturday. Completion is scheduled by the end of 2025.

The Alexandroupolis LNG terminal, with a regasification capacity of 5.5 billion cubic metres (bcm) per year, is expected to become operational by the end of 2023. Bulgaria owns a 20% equity share in the terminal and has booked storage capacity of 1 bcm per year.

“We are here to welcome a project that is changing the energy landscape: Greece is now shielded, it acquires energy sufficiency. At the same time, a new energy pillar is being created for South-Eastern Europe, as our country will be able to export electricity to the neighbouring Balkan states. To Bulgaria, North Macedonia and even Serbia,” Copelouzos Group CEO Christos Copelouzos said in the statement.

The facility will be a combined-cycle plant, meaning it would use both gas and steam turbines, with the latter being powered by exhaust heat from the gas turbine. The plant, whose output will replace that of three lignite coal plants currently being decommissioned, will be able to operate with mixed fuel and will also have equipment suitable for hydrogen combustion, Copelouzos Group added. This will align with European Green Deal targets, promoting decarbonisation in the energy sector and ensuring affordable electricity supply, according to the company.
Source: Reuters