Big interest USA for the energy independence of the countries of South-East Europe from Russia and the role played by Greece in this direction has a decisive influence on bilateral relations.

In the strategic dialogue with the United States, the energy agenda included projects that contribute to this direction, such as gasification units (FSRU)O IGB conductor and a young man pipeline connecting Greece and North Macedonia. The released joint communiqué explicitly mentions the two pipelines and Greece’s efforts to ensure that the new FSRU at Alexandroupoli is commissioned by the end of the year.

Also mentioned are electrical interconnection projects that could “connect” Europe to Africa and Asia without naming them. These are electrical interconnections Greece-Egypt (GREGY of the Elica group of the Kopelouzos group and GAP of the Eunice company) and Greece-Cyprus-Israel, which will contribute to weaning Europe from Russian fossil fuels. On the contrary, there is no direct mention of the EastMed gas pipeline, which means that the American side insists on ending support for the project, arguing that it is not economically viable and opposes the energy transition policy.

The Greek side included EastMed on the agenda of the strategic dialogue, indicating that it should be included in the joint communiqué. Instead, there is a vague reference to a specific project: “Greece has reaffirmed its support for more traditional energy infrastructure projects in the Eastern Mediterranean.”

US interest is focused on new FSRUs and pipelines that could increase LNG export capacity through the Greek system. In meetings held by the American delegation with the DESFA delegation, he showed particular interest in the Greek system modernization projects, as well as in the vertical axis that would connect the Greek natural gas system to Bulgaria, Serbia, Romania, Moldova and Ukraine. On the Ukrainian market 35 billion sq.m. gas are oriented annually to US LNG companies, so the US supports and shows particular interest in the planned second FSRU Alexandroupolis, 90% of which will be directed to this market.

The DESFA side presented projects for the modernization of the Greek system, which, together with an increase in the capacity of IGB (from 3 to 5 billion cubic meters) and a doubling of the capacity of Tap (from 11 to 22 billion cubic meters). .), will lead to an increase in the country’s export potential from 2.3 billion m. today to 8.5 billion sq.m. gas annually until 2025. Alexandra Sduku presented the full list of energy projects promoted by Greece, including DESFA’s plan to build a new network that will transport only hydrogen, which will be connected to a similar network in Bulgaria and will be part of the EU strategy. . for hydrogen.