Page 5 - FSUOGM Week 34 2019
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FSUOGM PIPELINES & TRANSPORT FSUOGM
Bulgaria awards $202mn deal for compressor stations
Welding of TurkStream pipes underway in Serbia.
BULGARIA
The compressor stations will help Bulgaria handle TurkStream’s gas.
BULGARIA’S state-owned transmission system operator (TSO) Bulgartransgaz has selected a contractor to build two compressor stations as part of plans to upgrade its grid to handle gas from Russia’s TurkStream project.
Two consortia, called Rasovo-Provadia CS and Ferrostaal Balkangaz, filed bids to con- struct the Rasovo and Nova Provadia compres- sor units in a tender. Ferrostaal Balkangaz was awarded the contract, thanks to its cheaper o er of €179.4mn ($202mn) excluding VAT, Bulgar- transgaz said on August 20.
Ferrostaal Balkangaz consists of Germa- ny’s Ferrostaal Industrieanlagen and Bulgaria’s Glavbolgarstroy and Glavbolgarstroy Interna- tional. Belgium’s Solar Turbines Europe, along with Bulgarian firms Turbo Machine and Chimcomplect Engineering, are to serve as subcontractors.
The two new compression stations will handle gas arriving via the TurkStream from Serbia. Russia unveiled TurkStream a er ditch- ing its South Stream project in 2014. e pipe- line will consist of two 15.75bn cubic metre
per year strings under the Black Sea. e rst, designed to supply the Turkish market, is near- ing completion.
The second string, anticipated online in 2020, will run through Bulgaria and Serbia, terminating in Hungary. Serbia began building its 403-km leg of the pipe earlier this year, and completed the rst of its three parts on August 12.
Bulgartransgaz has hired a consortium led by Saudi Arabia’s Arkad Engineering to build its 484-km leg, a er o ering to do the work for €1.29bn ($1.5bn) in a tender in April. Proceed- ings were delayed a er Bulgartransgaz opted instead to hire another contestant called GRRB Consortium Gas Development and Expansion, alleged to have ties to Russia’s TMK. Bulgarian regulators overturned the gas operator’s decision in late July, ordering it to sign a contract with Arkad instead. e Saudi rm to set to complete the work within 250 days.
Hungary is keen on taking part in Turk- Stream, but is yet to draw up plans for the pipe- line’s route through its territory.
Week 34 28•August•2019 w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m
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