BAKU, Azerbaijan, Sept. 18
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
The US company Linden Energy has reserved 276 million cubic metres (mcm) per year capacity in the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB), Teodora Georgieva, chief executive officer/executive director at project company ICGB told ICIS, Trend reports.
She added that Linden Energy intends to use the capacity to supply Bulgaria with regassified LNG delivered to Greece adding “we expect to sign a gas transmission agreement for 276 mcm per year.”
“An important stage of the project was the signing of the gas transmission agreements, which secured the ICGB revenues in the long run, namely the function of long-term reserved capacity,” the ICGB executive director explained.
According to Georgieva, ICGB has reserved 1bcm of capacity per year based on the contract between Bulgargaz and the Azerbaijan state oil and gas company SOCAR.
“With these quantities per year from Azerbaijan we will change the appearance of the market in Bulgaria where total consumption is about 3bcm per year,” said Georgieva.
Greek public gas corporation DEPA and the Italian energy group Edison reserved 200mcm/year and 100mcm/year of capacity respectively.
Georgieva also said that gas from the terminal in Alexandroupolis will pass through the IGB to Bulgaria, and potentially Ukraine.
“This is a terminal that will allow natural gas to reach nearby countries in the region - Ukraine is strategically important and there is significant market potential. Colleagues from Hungary and Romania expect these projects to be implemented as part of the Vertical Gas Corridor. Romania is also interested in supplying gas from various sources and routes,” Georgieva said.
IGB project envisages the construction of a gas interconnector that will link the gas transmission systems of Greece and Bulgaria. The total length of the gas pipeline is 182.6 km, and its capacity for gas transmission is 3 billion cubic meters per year with the option to reach 5 billion cubic meters.
The route of the gas pipeline is divided into 7 main lots, the shortest being 9.55 km long and the longest - 71.90 km. 106 km of the route in Bulgaria will be completed with automatic welding, and the remaining 45 km - by manual welding.
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