- The increasing trend in natural gas consumption in Greece continues in 2021, according to DESFA data for the period January – September 2021.
- Sidirokastro remains the main entry point for natural gas to the NNGS during the first nine months of 2021, with a rate of 45.19%.
- 13.45% increase in natural gas consumption (TWh) compared to 2020.
- 15.21% increase in consumption for electricity generation (TWh) in one year.
- The fourth entry point of Nea Mesimvria contributes substantially to the strengthening of security of supply and to the diversification of sources and infrastructure of supply, covering a percentage of 17.01% of imports.
- LNG unloadings at the Revithoussa LNG Terminal continued according to schedule.
The increasing trend of natural gas consumption in our country continues, according to DESFA’s data for the first nine months of 2021, with the entry point in Sidirokastro remaining the main gas inflow gate to the NNGS, while the increase of the share of electricity generation in the domestic consumption of natural gas is also significant.
Specifically, according to the relevant data of DESFA for the period January – September 2021, domestic gas consumption increased by 13.45%, reaching 52.46 Terawatt hours (TWh) from 46.24 TWh in the same period of last year.
Gas imports amounted to 57.73 TWh, recording an increase compared to 53.54 TWh in the first nine months of 2020. The largest quantities entered from the entry point in Sidirokastro (26.09 TWh), which covered 45.19% of imports, showing an increase of 10.06% compared to the corresponding period last year.
The new entry point in Nea Mesimvria, which, following the interconnection with TAP, covered 17.01% of the imports within its first one-month operation, with more than 9.82 TWh, significantly contributes now to the inflow of natural gas into the NNGS. Finally, approximately 3.08 TWh (5.33%) entered the NNGS through the connection point in Kipoi, Evros.
As far as the gas consumers’ categories are concerned, electricity producers continue to record the highest consumption, covering 67.40% of domestic demand with 35.36 TWh out of a total of 52.46 TWh consumed, a quantity 15.21% higher than the same period last year. Consumption recorded by households and businesses through distribution networks increased by 7.3% compared to the same period of 2020, with 9.08 TWh, which corresponds to almost 17.30% of the demand. Consumption by domestic industries and CNG in the period January – September of 2021 reached 8.01 TWh, recording an increase of 7.37% compared to the same period of 2020 and covering 15.26% of demand.
Regarding the LNG imports at the Revithoussa Terminal during the period January-September 2021, they concerned about 18.14 TWh from 25 vessels compared to about 25.86 TWh from 40 vessels in the corresponding period of the previous year. The reductions mainly concern LNG imports from the USA and Qatar (-47.36% and -31.76% decrease respectively), while LNG imports from Algeria increased significantly by 102.22% compared to the first nine months of 2020. LNG imports from Egypt also increased by 10.28%. Τhe US LNG imports in our country held the first place with 8.04 TWh (44.33%), with Qatar coming second with 4.74 TWh (26.16%), followed by Algeria and Egypt with 4.42 TWh (24.38%) and 0.92 TWh (5.1%), respectively.
DESFA’s infrastructure continues to contribute substantially to the diversification of gas supply sources and security of supply. Finally, the liberalization of the energy market and the Third-Party Access TPA, under which DESFA operates, strengthens price competition. Third-party access (TPA) is governed by the provisions of European Union and national law, ensuring open access to any interested party.
