ICGB operator has received ‘significant market interest’ for extra bookings
The operator of the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (ICGB) gas pipeline is planning upgrades next year to boost throughput capacity from the current 3 billion cubic metres per annum to 5 Bcm per annum.
The privately owned link between Greece and Bulgaria is vital to ensuring pipeline and liquefied natural gas deliveries to southern Europe, including Ukraine and Moldova, as alternatives to Russian pipeline supplies via the subsea TurkStream line across the Black Sea to Turkey.
The pipeline connects to the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), making Bulgaria a part of the Southern Gas Corridor that transports gas from Azerbaijan to Europe, with Brussels laying strong hopes for this former Soviet country to boost supplies to replace lost Russian volumes.
Its operator, also named ICGB, said it received “significant market interest” for greater capacity after offering non-binding deals to market players.
The binding phase is now expected to begin in July when energy traders and shippers will commit to booking the extra capacity, ICGB executive officers George Satlas and Teodora Georgieva said.
Launched in October 2022, the interconnector has 39 registered users with most of its capacity already booked for the new gas year.
It currently supplies about half of Bulgaria’s gas needs since Russia’s Gazprom halted deliveries in 2022 after Bulgaria rejected a change to terms and conditions.
The expansion project will encompass the installation of additional filtering, heating, reducing and measuring equipment along the current route and the integration of an advanced communication and management system into the existing infrastructure, according to ICGB.
Work will be carried out at both ends of the pipeline, specifically at gas metering station No 1 in Komotini in Greece, and station No 2 in Stara Zagora in Bulgaria.
ICGB said that planned capacity expansion has been discussed during a recent meeting of the transmission operators of Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary.
Vertical Gas Corridor
In 2016, these countries agreed to develop necessary connections for the realisation of the Vertical Gas Corridor — a project that will enable bidirectional gas flows from Greece to northern Europe through Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary.
ICGB said it fully supports expanding the Vertical Gas Corridor plan in the future with the inclusion of gas pipeline operators in Moldova, Ukraine and also an operator for the planned East Mediterranean (East Med) subsea gas pipeline.
East Med is expected to be implemented by a joint venture between Greek gas utility Depa and Italian gas utility Edison, and according to Edison chief executive Nicola Monti this summer, the proposed multi-billion dollar, 2000-kilometre project remains viable.
The East Med pipeline has been studied for nearly a decade and is touted as a way of sending mainly Israeli gas to Italy via Cyprus, Crete and mainland Greece.
Source : Upstream
