* Corridor would allow bidirectional gas flows between Greece and countries further north
* Ukraine grid operator says it could supply extra 7 bcm of gas per year
* Greece readies operation of floating gas storage terminal
ATHENS, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Ukraine, Moldova and Slovakia on Friday joined an initiative for a planned corridor to carry natural gas between Greece and countries to its north as Europe steps up efforts to diversify supply and boost energy security.
Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary agreed in 2016 to develop the necessary infrastructure for the realisation of the so-called Vertical Gas Corridor which would allow the bidirectional transmission of gas between the countries.
"The Vertical Corridor will now unite the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline and will allow the transportation of natural gas from Greece to Moldova and underground storage facilities in Ukraine," Moldova's Energy Ministry said.
The gas grid operators of Slovakia, Moldova and Ukraine, along with their Greek, Romanian, Bulgarian and Hungarian counterparts signed a memorandum of understanding on Friday to promote the necessary projects for the activation of the scheme, Greek grid operator DESFA said in a statement.
"Thanks to the participation in the Vertical Corridor initiative, we expect to supply over 7 billion cubic metres of gas from Romania to Central Europe a year additionally," Dmytro Lyppa, the head of Ukraine's transit operator, was quoted as saying on the company's website.
Lyppa said Ukraine was currently working with Moldova's gas operator on conditions to use additional capacities on the Trans-Balkan pipeline totalling 6 million cubic metres a day in 2024.
"Working together to strengthen and increase the flexibility of the regional gas systems has emerged as a top priority," DESFA's CEO Maria Rita Galli said in the statement.
The operators agreed to carry out a simultaneous binding market test for capacity allocation in July 2024 at their respective interconnection points.
Greece is preparing to bring into operation a floating gas storage terminal off the northern city of Alexandroupolis, which will allow the regasification of liquefied natural gas arriving by sea to be sent north via pipeline.
The Trans-Balkan pipeline has been used to transport Russian gas to the Balkans via Ukraine, Romania and Moldova but it has been running at low capacity since Gazprom diverted volumes to Turkey through the TurkStream pipeline in 2020. (Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou in Athens, Yuliia Dysa in Gdansk and Alexander Tanas in Chisinau; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
