BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan.27. The Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) has immensely changed South-East Europe’s energy map, Executive Officer of ICGB, the pipeline operator, Teodora Georgieva said in an exclusive interview with Trend.
“This goes into two aspects – impact on a national level for the two host countries Greece and Bulgaria, and international concerning our neighbors and the wider SEE region. On a national scale, both Bulgaria and Greece were able to strengthen their roles on the energy map after IGB’s successful launch in October last year. For Bulgaria, the benefits of IGB have been felt perhaps even stronger internally, as the country now has a diversified and safe new route for natural gas supplies – for the first time we are not dependent on one sole source. This is a major feat and the ICGB team has worked extremely hard to make it possible under quite challenging conditions. The new route for gas deliveries has had a positive impact on the market, optimizing prices for end consumers, and making it possible to proceed with the gasification of entire local regions,” she said.
Georgieva noted that on an international level, it is now possible to offer capacity for natural gas transportation to several countries in the SEE region, including the neighbors in the Western Balkans, Moldova and Ukraine as well.
“Deliveries to Moldova and Ukraine through the Trans-Balkan pipeline became possible only after IGB’s launch as a new connecting infrastructure, and this made Bulgaria even more relevant as a partner and transiting country. This is certainly a breath of fresh air for the market at a time when energy independence and security of supply have become so crucial. The timing of IGB’s launch could not have been better in that aspect and I am certain that the effects of this project and its strategic location so close to TAP, TANAP, the Trans-Balkan Pipeline, and a few LNG terminals will be felt even stronger in the future,” she added.
The Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria began commercial operation on October 1, 2022.
Since the beginning of the current heating season, the interconnector provides nearly 1/3 of the winter consumption of natural gas in Bulgaria. IGB is the first route for diversified supplies of natural gas to Bulgaria, guaranteeing increased security of supply and diversity of sources, contributing significantly to the competition in the natural gas market, which is a prerequisite for optimized prices for businesses and domestic consumers in the country.
The gas pipeline creates an entirely new route through Bulgaria for the transportation of natural gas from new sources to a number of countries, which reinforces the key role of the interconnector not only at a national level, but also for the entire region of Central and Southeastern Europe.
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