ATHENS – King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium visited the liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at the islet of Revithoussa in the gulf of Megara, west of Athens, on Wednesday.

The Belgian royals, who have been visiting Greece since Monday, were accompanied by Greek Energy Minister Kostas Skrekas, by Hellenic Gas Transmission System Operator (DESFA) CEO Maria Rita Galli, and by Belgian energy infrastructure company Fluxys CEO Pascal De Buck. Fluxys is a shareholder in DESFA through the Senfluga consortium.

The Revithoussa LNG terminal enables Greece to secure its energy efficiency even if the supply of Russian natural gas were to be cut off entirely, noted Skrekas.

DESFA is preparing to increase Revithoussa’s capacity currently estimated at 7.2 billion cubic meters per year by 12% -13%. The new floating tank, expected to allow the storage of even more LNG, is expected to be ready by the end of July. The capacity total is expected to go up by 150,000 cubic meters.

The LNG market “is rather broad, and the important thing is to secure LNG loads,” noted Galli, and she added that “Greece’s energy resilience is ensured by maximizing Revithoussa’s capacity alongside the TAP pipeline, and together with the [Greek] government’s measure for electricity production by lignite and diesel.”

Revithoussa gives Greece “worldwide access to liquefied natural gas,” said De Buck. “It is therefore a very important facility, in terms of supply security and diversification,” he observed.

After the visit at Revithoussa, the Belgian royal couple returned to Athens to meet with Belgian journalists, while the king held met Greek and Belgian CEOs during a luncheon to discuss the energy sector.