Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb.22
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
The Network Code for the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB), which envisages transportation of Azerbaijani gas to Europe, has been submitted long before the deadline, ICGB AD, the project company, told Trend.
“On February 19, ICGB AD finalized successfully the next step of the process towards the certification as an independent transmission system operator. More than four months before the deadline the project company submitted to the regulatory authorities of Greece and Bulgaria the IGB’s Network Code,” said the company.
The Network Code consists of all rules and procedures for operation of the gas transmission system of the IGB project and details on the rights and obligations of the transmission system operator and the shippers as well as:
Detailed procedures of normal operation, including nomination of capacity at IGB entry and exit points for forward and reverse flow;
All necessary procedures for the secondary trading, which will be available to all traders;
Congestion management procedures and the use-it-or-lose-it arrangements;
Data publication procedures on the functionality and availability of capacity for all pipeline users.
The deadline for submission of the Network Code ends on July 1, 2019 – not later than 12 months prior to the date of entering into commercial operation of the gas interconnector. The Code has been prepared and submitted more than 4 months in advance in compliance with the project company’s aim to finalize all required procedures on time. Following a coordination with the Bulgarian and the Greek regulators the Network Code will be published on ICGB’s website.
IGB is a gas pipeline, which will allow Bulgaria to receive Azerbaijani gas, in particular, the gas produced from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz 2 gas and condensate field. IGB is expected to be connected to TAP via which gas from the Shah Deniz field will be delivered to the European markets.
The initial capacity of IGB will be 3 billion cubic meters of gas.
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