BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb.5
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
The terrain has been cleared as part of the implementation of the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) project, Trend reports with reference to ICGB AD, a project company.
Around 125 km of the pipeline have been strung, 95 km have been welded, 62 km have been excavated in trench and 52 km have been lowered.
Activities such as manual and automatic welding continue, together with preparation of joint coating and backfilling for the lowered sections. Recultivation is envisaged after the execution of the linear part.
The gas pipeline is 182m long and has transmission capacity of 3bcm/year with the option to come to 5bcm/year, after an upgrade through a compressor station. The total investment cost is estimated to be 240mln w/o VAT of which approximately €220 mln are capital expenses and €20 mln development costs.
The project is perceived as crucial for Bulgaria and the region due to its strategic importance for providing diversification of sources and routes of natural gas supply to Bulgaria.
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.
IGB will provide the shortest and the most competitive route along the Southern Gas Corridor for bringing natural gas to Bulgaria.
Currently, the contractor for the engineering, procurement and construction contract - the Greek company J&P AVAX S.A, has submitted a request to extend the project implementation period with an indicative deadline of the end of 2021. The request is based on the global spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The request from the contractor is yet to be discussed by the shareholders of the project company. Meanwhile, with the support of the national governments of the two countries, all parties continue to work on ways to optimize the activities so that the pipeline is successfully implemented as soon as possible, while holding the health and safety of all employees on site as a top priority.
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