BAKU, Azerbaijan, Oct.30
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
In October, the European Commission (EC) formally approved without comments the second interim payment of 16,503,254.24 euros for the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) with the funds already received, the ICGB AD, a project company, told Trend.
ICGB also received approval for the second interim payment under the European Energy Program for Recovery (EEPR) following the completion of another detailed audit. In parallel with the progress of the construction of the IGB gas pipeline, the project company initiated the process of submitting the request for reimbursement of the eligible costs incurred for the purchase of assets and for performed construction activities.
“This is an important sign for the constant support for the IGB project by the EC, as well as the high appreciation of the project company and its systematic efforts to strictly apply all procedures and rules in the implementation of the IGB project,” said the project company.
The IGB project is being implemented by the joint venture company ICGB AD, registered in Bulgaria in 2011, with shareholders BEH EAD (50 percent) and IGI Poseidon (50 percent). The co-shareholder IGI Poseidon is a company, registered in Greece, with shareholders being the Greek public gas corporation DEPA SA (50 percent) and the Italian energy group Edison SpA (50 percent).
In accordance with its Statute, ICGB AD will be the owner of the IGB gas pipeline and will finance its realization, will allocate its capacity and will receive the revenue from the transportation of natural gas.
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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