The Greece-Bulgaria natural gas interconnector saw strong international interest in an auction of available non-exempted capacity, after over 70% of volumes offered, or over 37 million kWh per day, were booked for the 2023-2024 gas year, independent transmission operator ICGB said on Friday.
The remainder of the capacity will be made available in quarterly, monthly and daily auctions, ICGB said in a press release.
“The auctions held on two major platforms offered available capacity for five consecutive gas years and we’re delighted with the interest that the IGB pipeline gained. There are several new shippers just entering the local market for the first time through booking capacity in the interconnector and we see this as a testament to IGB’s strategic role,” ICGB executive officers Teodora Georgieva and George Satlas said.
In the auction launched at the beginning of the week, ICGB decided to offer quasi-yearly capacity at the interconnection point with the Greek transmission system operator DESFA, allowing for the transportation of quantities upon the expected launch of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at the Greek port of Alexandroupolis.
“This was a key decision and we dedicated systematic efforts to aligning this approach with the neighbouring transmission system operators and receiving the required approvals by the national energy regulators,” Georgieva and Satlas added.
Out of its overall capacity of 3 billion cubic metres (bcm) per year, the interconnector already has 1.57 bcm per year booked for the flow of Caspian gas to Europe under a long-term contract with Azerbaijan. ICGB has just launched a market test to gauge potential demand that would allow it to bring its total capacity for 5 bcm per year, the company also said.
Source : Seenews