BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 28. Fifty percent of capacity of the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) has been reserved and apart from 1 billion cubic meters of gas from Azerbaijan, there are also reservations of other traders who are entering the Bulgarian market for the first time, Teodora Georgieva, executive director of ICGB AD, the project company, said, Trend reports via Bulgarian media.
There is residual work in both territories and there is also great progress, Georgieva said. The linear part of the gas pipeline is ready in both territories, the pipes have been laid and backfilled, hydro-certification has been done.
“What delayed the project was, in addition to the coronavirus and the delay in the supply chain of ground equipment, 8 crane units that came in late February. But they have already been tested. The hydro-testing of the gas measuring station in Stara Zagora and the one in Komotini remains,” the executive director 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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