Page 8 - Euroil Week 45 2019

EurOil PIPELINES & TRANSPORT EurOil
Bulgaria receives first pipes for IGB
BULGARIA
While IGB would enable Bulgaria to do without Russian gas, this is not Sofia’s intent.
THE first batch of pipes has been delivered for the construction of a gas link between Bulgaria and Greece, Bulgarian Energy Minister Temenu- zhka Petkova announced on November 11.
The Gas Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB), which would allow Bulgaria to tap sev- eral alternatives to Russian gas, is slated to start up in the second half of 2020. The first delivery of pipes comes after the European Investment Bank (EIB) agreed last month to provide a €110mn ($121mn) loan for its development. Together with a €33mn grant supplied from the European Commission, this should cover the lion’s share of project’s estimated costs of €220mn.
“Generations of politicians have been tak- ing about diversification, but it is only now becoming a reality,” Bulgarian PM Boyko Borissov told reporters while inspecting the project’s progress.
The pipeline will connect with Bulgaria’s gas grid in Stara Zagora and run for 151 km up to the Greek border. It will then continue for a fur- ther 31 km, linking with the Greek gas system at Komotini. It will initially be able to flow 3bn cubic metres per year of gas – enough to cover almost all of Bulgaria’s annual gas needs.
IGB will allow Bulgaria to access gas from Azerbaijan, due to arrive late next year via the 10 bcm per year Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TAP), after some delay. The country has already struck a contract to take 1 bcm per year of this gas.
At a later stage, Bulgaria would be able to source supplies from Greece’s 5.5 bcm per year Revithoussa LNG terminal, expected to start up towards the end of 2021. The terminal is expected to bring ashore gas from as far away as Qatar and the US.
While IGB would enable Bulgaria to do with- out Russian supplies, this is not Sofia’s intent. In fact, the country is working with Russia’s state- owned Gazprom to route the 15.75 bcm per year second string of the TurkStream through its ter- ritory and on through Serbia and Hungary.
Rather, Bulgaria has aspirations to set itself up as a regional gas hub, receiving and distributing supplies from and to its neighbours. With this goal in mind, it has suggested expanding IGB’s capacity further to 5 bcm per year in the future by adding a new compression station.
Greece’s J&P Avax has been tasked with building IGB, while Corinth Pipeworks Industry is supplying its pipes. ™
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 45 14•November•2019