The European energy market is becoming vulnerable to any new disruption in natural gas supplies, and is concerned about its dependence on Russian imports and the growing role of Turkey in Europe’s supply, writes Chryssa Liaggou in a latest report in the “Kathimerini” daily.
The market’s interest has recently focused on restoring the smooth flow of Azeri gas through the TAP pipeline. A problem at the Shah Deniz field facilities forced the station to conduct emergency maintenance and limited the flow of quantities passing through Greece to Italy and neighboring Bulgaria via the IGB.
As of Monday (13/1), flows in the Greek system through TAP have been reduced to zero and will be restored on Wednesday, according to the information that DESFA received from the management company, though it has not explained the exact problem that caused the interruption, as DESFA sources told Kathimerini.
The same sources assure, however, that the Greek market did not face any problems since demand was covered with LNG from Revithoussa and the new Alexandroupoli terminal. In addition to domestic demand, which reached 195 gigawatts on Monday, the Greek system also supported the Balkan markets with exports of 40 GW.
A point of concern, however, is the country’s high dependence on Russian natural gas, which in 2024 covered 57% of Greece’s total imports, and much more the dependence on Turkey since it reaches the Greek system through the Turkstream pipeline.
Turkey’s role, after the closure of the Ukrainian transit of Russian gas to Europe, has been significantly upgraded as a gas transit center and it is no coincidence that Bulgaria resorted to the Turkish supplier Botas to replace the flows of Azeri gas in recent days.
A possible interruption of the operation of Turkstream will also have direct consequences, beyond prices, and on the supply of the Greek market, a worrying possibility after Monday’s announcement by Moscow about Kyiv’s attack on the pipeline facilities: Russia accused Ukraine of attacking a gas distribution station of the Turkstream pipeline in the Krasnodar region with unmanned aerial vehicles with the aim, as Moscow announced, of interrupting gas deliveries to European countries. Debris from a drone caused minor damage to facilities, which was quickly repaired.
