PRESS RELEASE
Flame Touch Ceremony of Natural Gas in Velestino
In record time, since the initial announcement, Velestino was supplied by natural gas by the Gas Distribution Company of Thessaloniki - Thessaly S.A. (EDA THESS) and the first consumers have already enjoyed its benefits.
On the occasion of the supply of the city with natural gas, EDATHESS and Municipality of Riga Fereos co-organized an event at the town hall of the city of Velestino, during which the Mayor of Rigas Fereos, Mr. Dimitris Nasikas, and the General Manager of EDATHESS, Mr. Leonidas Bakouras have symbolically lit the flame of gas, inaugurating a "new era" for the city.
In the brief ceremony, the General Manager of EDATHESS, Mr. Leonidas Bakouras, referred to the quick time that the project was completed, thanks to the coordinated way in which the staff of the company acted, stressing the benefits that consumers will have from the use of natural gas. As he said, the interest of the citizens of Velestino is already high, as more than 600 connection requests with the natural gas network have been filed, 115 of which have already been signed so far, and moreover it is estimated that within a five-year period of time, 60% of the population of Velestino will be supplied with natural gas.
According to the plans of EDA THESS and in cooperation with the Municipal Authority, he stressed that the construction and gasification of the expansion of 8,900-meter low-pressure natural gas network in Velestino, has been completed, with a budget of 500.000 €, and in parallel the use of natural gas is giving benefits, domestic, commercial consumers and public - municipal buildings. At the same time, further expansions of the natural gas network are in progress, which take place according to the recorded interest of the citizens.
He pointed out that until today EDA THESS has invested more than 100 million euros in Thessaly for the construction of the networks and he announced that the company's aim is to invest in the expansion of the network for the next five years up to 35,8 million euro, as 164 km of low pressure network(4bar) and 5 km of medium pressure network (19 bar) will be constructed during the period of 2018 - 2022. With reference to Thessaly in total, he stressed that until now the number of connection contracts equals to 90.870 and the number of the activated contracts respectively is up to 86.868.
Mr. Bakouras said that beyond the construction of local pipeline networks, new areas will be supplied by compressed natural gas (CNG).
By December 15th 2017 the decompression station for the region of Tirnavos will be delivered, where its installation works will be carried out.
Mayor of Riga Fereos
Mr. Dimitrios Nasikas, the Mayor of the city, marked as "Historical" the day that Velestino was connected to natural gas.
Mr. Nasikas referred to the excellent collaboration that was developed between the municipal authority and EDATHESS in order to overcome any difficulties and the project to be completed within a short time according to the original timetable, to place the Velestino area in an orbit of "energy culture" as he stressed.
He particularly thanked the leadership of EDA THESS and the employees of the company, pointing the fact that the pace at which Velestino was supplied with natural gas was unusual to Greek standards, resulting that the city has already enjoyed its benefits.
Addressing to the citizens who gathered in the central square of Velestino, he said the project was not static but dynamic and he noted that as the time passes by, all the city districts will be able to connect to the gas distribution network.
GAS DISTRIBUTION COMPANY
THESSALONIKI – THESSALIA S.A.
