Baku, Azerbaijan, June 30
By Aygun Badalova - Trend:
Gas network operators in Bulgaria and Greece Bulgartransgaz and DESFA signed an interconnection agreement allowing market players to transport gas – including from liquefied natural gas sources – between the two countries for the first time, the report on the European Commission’s website said.
The gas transport operations will start from first July, 2016 and will be realized in a test regime during three months.
The agreement is the first step in giving access to other market players – for north- or southbound deliveries – along and beyond the important Trans-Balkan gas corridor between Greece, Turkey, FYROM and Ukraine, the report said.
The achievement is part of the broader Central and South Eastern Europe Gas Connectivity (CESEC) initiative launched in 2015 by 15 of the EU, the Energy Community, and the European Commission with the objective of diversifying gas supplies and increasing security of supply in the region.
New gas interconnection agreement between Bulgaria and Greece is another major CESEC accomplishment, Energy Union Vice-President Maros Sefcovic tweeted on June 30.
Bulgaria and Greece also cooperate on the implementation of the IGB (Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria) project, which is expected to be connected to the Trans Adriatic Pipeline, and will allow Bulgaria to receive Azerbaijani gas.
In early December, 2015, Bulgaria and Greece signed a final investment decision on the IGB project. The initial capacity of 182 kilometers length pipeline will be 3 billion cubic meters of gas.