BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 5. The Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) has reached 90-95 percent progress, said George Tasakos, head of the Department of Education and Networks of AVAX, the company engaged in the interconnector’s construction, Trend reports via Greek media.
“We believe that everything will go well, it will end on time and will be able to supply gas in early July – as planned – from Greece to Bulgaria,” said Tasakos.
Talking about the previous delay in the project’s implementation, the AVAX representative noted that the COVID-19 pandemic adversely affected, to a large extent, the progress of the project.
“We had the following issues: first, when the pandemic started, the construction site was in a phase of mobilization and we had ordered special equipment from abroad for the welding of the pipeline. The completion of the order coincided with the start of the pandemic. The borders were closed, the industries were closed and this caused a delay of several months in the arrival of the equipment to start the work. At the same time, in the beginning there was an issue in the mobilization of the staff, which was frightened, while in the second phase of the pandemic 2/3 fell ill, at different times. “In the third phase, we had a big problem with the materials that have a long delivery time, where the deadlines were not met by the foreign suppliers and the producers – as many of them have their origin in China,” Tasakos explained.
The IGB project is of key importance for increasing security of supply and for ensuring diversification of natural gas sources for Bulgaria and the region of Southeast Europe. At the regional level, IGB will provide access to the gas transmission network for Bulgarian municipalities and regions that didn’t have an option for connectivity. The interconnector with Greece is an entirely new route for the transmission of natural gas to Europe and will give Bulgaria and the region access to supplies from new sources. The project will connect the country with the Southern Gas Corridor and has excellent synergy with other major energy projects such as TAP, TANAP, EastMed and the LNG terminal at Alexandroupolis.
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