BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 28. The Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) could help Bulgaria to switch from coal to gas fuel, project operator ICGB’s executive director Teodora Georgieva told ICIS, Trend reports.
“IGB passes close to the power plants of the “Maritsa East” energy complex. If plants are interested in gasification, we are ready to work to build gas transmission diversions next to them,” said Georgieva, adding: “It should be borne in mind that after the start of the war in Ukraine, the price of natural gas has increased several times, and there is also a lack of sufficient volumes on the market,” she said.
IGB started commercial operation on 1 October and could transport 300 million cubic metres of gas by the end of 2022, Georgieva noted.
The coal plants in the Maritsa East coal complex include the state-owned 1.6GW Maritsa East 2 (ME2) as well as at the privately-owned 908MW ConturGlobal Maritsa East 3 and the 670MW AES Galabovo Maritsa East 1.
Georgieva said the current circumstances did not incentivise the gasification of the complex.
“If the prices on the gas market stabilise, the LNG terminal in Alexandroupolis comes into operation in 2024, and Azerbaijan accordingly increases the export of natural gas to Europe, as is actively discussed at the political level, then the chances of building a gas power generation capacity in the complex will increase significantly. This remains a conversation ICGB will always be open to as a grid operator,” she explained.
The executive director noted that for the gasification of existing thermal power plants or for the construction of new gas power generation capacity, it is extremely important the European Commission recognizes gas as a transition fuel in a significantly longer term plan.
IGB connects Bulgaria with the Southern Gas Corridor and will enable secure supplies from a variety of sources to several countries in Southeast and Central Europe, including Moldova and Ukraine.
The pipeline is set to transport 1 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas per year to Bulgaria. Its capacity is 3 billion cubic meters with the possibility of expanding to 5 billion cubic meters per year.
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