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Major challenges for IGB’s construction named

Oil&Gas Materials 28 April 2021 15:59 (UTC +04:00)
Major challenges for IGB’s construction named

BAKU, Azerbaijan, Apr.28

By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:

ICGB AD, a project company for the construction of Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB), has named the challenges for the project’s implementation, Trend reports with reference to the company.

Crossings done using the method of Horizontal Directional Drilling: While the activities on the completion of the linear part are in serious progress, the realization of the project depends also on some more complicated tasks as the HDD which should be applied at the crossing under Studen Kladenetz dam and Maritza river which is one of the most difficult process of the Project execution;

Severe mountain terrain: the specific topography of the terrain, at some points, create further difficulties for the welding. Thus, due to the complexity of the terrain in the Rhodopi mountain, in some places the activities are slower, as only manual welding seams can be carried out. In the mountainous region near Makaza, on the Greek side, there is a similar need, again due to the nature of the terrain. This does not allow the use of automatic welds on these parts of the route, which requires the application of a slower manual welding process;

Procurement of equipment: Another challenge faced by the project is the finalization of the detailed design and the order of equipment with long lead time of delivery (valves, heaters, gas-chromatographs, measuring devices ets.) In a global pandemic, this is extremely difficult and inevitably leads to delays on the part of manufacturers and logistics companies responsible for transport;

Finalization of the procedure for certification as a Transmission Network Operator with the National Regulatory bodies of both countries-Bulgaria and Greece, and acquisition of a consequent EC statement;

A new socio-ecological management system (ESMS) elaborated especially for IGB is applied in the realization of the pipeline. The system is closely related to the project company's commitments for sustainability, environmental protection, recultivation of the interconnector route, as well as preservation of cultural and historical heritage. The first independent audit of the system has already been successfully completed, and within the project another 9 audits are planned in the various stages of implementation and operation of the pipeline.

The IGB gas pipeline will be connected with the Greek national gas transmission system in the area of Komotini and with the Bulgarian national gas transmission system in the area of Stara Zagora. The planned length of the pipeline is 182 km, the pipeline diameter will be 32” and the projected capacity will be up to 3 bcm/y in the direction from Greece to Bulgaria. Depending on the interest from the market and the capacities of the neighboring gas transmission systems, the pipeline is designed for increasing its capacity up to 5 bcm/y for following up the market evolution thus allowing physical reverse flow (from Bulgaria to Greece) with the additional installation of a compressor station. A Memorandum for cooperation between ICGB AD and TAP AG has been signed concerning joint actions in relation to future connection between the IGB pipeline and the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn

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