- 25.16% increase in domestic consumption, accompanied by a simultaneous 95.45% decrease in natural gas exports.
- Sidirokastro was the main entry point, covering more than half (54.25%) of total natural gas imports, surpassing Revithoussa terminal after two consecutive years.
- The US continues to be the country’s main source of LNG supply, accounting for 64.99% of total LNG imports.
- Increase of 87.93% in natural gas consumption by big industries – connected directly to the transmission network – and by CNG consumers.
During the first nine months of 2024, natural gas consumption in Greece increased by 25.16%, reaching 47.65 Terawatt hours (TWh) from 38.07 TWh in the same period for 2023. The entry point at Sidirokastro was the primary gateway for natural gas inflow, showing a 62.67% increase and reaching 26.32 TWh from 16.18 TWh. This surpassed the entry point at Revithoussa, which saw a 52.25% decline in gas flows.
Specifically, according to DESFA’s data, during the period January – September 2024, total natural gas demand decreased by 8.14%, reaching 48.01 TWh, from 52.59 TWh in 2023, a decline mainly attributed to the 95.45% decrease in natural gas exports through the NNGTS (0.66 TWh compared to 14.52 TWh in 2023).
However, despite the increase in domestic consumption, there was a 7.90% decrease in total imported natural gas quantities, with the Revithoussa LNG Terminal registering 12.01 TWh, down from 25.15 TWh during the first nine months of 2023. Specifically, approximately 12.34 TWh were unloaded from 17 tankers originating from 4 different countries. The vast majority of LNG quantities came from the USA, with cargoes totaling 8.02 TWh, accounting for 64.99% of total LNG imports. Next were imports from Russia (6.27 TWh) showing a decrease of 54.39%, followed by Norway (0.98 TWh) and Algeria (0.48 TWh). Additionally, during the period from January to September 2024, the LNG Truck Loading service, which provides a flexible solution for transporting significant quantities of LNG by road to off-grid areas and users, saw the unloading of 174 LNG trucks, transferring 7,787.00 m³ of LNG, equivalent to 51,278.15 MWh of energy.
Additionally, as regards the contribution of the remaining entry points, the quantity imported from the Nea Mesimvria entry point, via the TAP pipeline, remained almost constant (9.61 TWh), showing a decrease only by 0.52% compared to 2023.
Regarding the categories of natural gas consumers, power producers continue to record the highest consumption, accounting for 69.52% of domestic demand with 33.13 TWh out of a total of 47.65 TWh. Natural gas consumption by industries and CNG stations directly connected to the NNGS increased by 87.93% compared to the first nine months of 2023, reaching 6.54 TWh, which corresponds almost to the 13.73% of domestic demand. On the contrary, consumption (7.98 TWh) recorded by distribution networks decreased by 2.33% in the first nine months of 2023, covering 16.75% of total demand.
DESFA’s infrastructure contributed substantially to the diversification of natural gas supply sources and to the strengthening of the security of supply. The liberalization of the energy market and the regulated Third-Party Access TPA, under which DESFA provides access to the NNGS, strengthens competition among natural gas suppliers for the benefit of end consumers. Third Party Access (TPA) is governed by the provisions of European Union and national law, ensuring open access to any interested party.