July 1 (SeeNews) - The Bulgarian and Greek energy regulators issued a joint decision, certifying ICGB, the company developing the Greece-Bulgaria natural gas interconnector, as an independent transmission operator (ITO), Bulgaria's Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC) said on Friday.
The move paves the way for the commissioning of the Greece-Bulgaria interconnector (IGB) after July 1, thus helping Bulgaria achieve diversification and security of gas supplies as well as receive deliveries that ensure favourable prices for Bulgarian end users, the EWRC said in a statement.
The certification was granted following a formal approval by the European Commission issued earlier this week.
The interconnector will allow Bulgaria to import one billion cu m of natural gas under a contract with Azerbaijan.
Moreover, the gas link's capacity can be expanded to 3 billion cu m, thus enabling Bulgaria and countries from the Southeast Europe (SEE) region receive additional quantities of gas through the Southern Gas Corridor or import liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US, Algeria, Qatar, Egypt and other suppliers via the terminal currently being built at the Greek port of Alexandroupolis. In the long term, the IGB will make it possible to import natural gas from Israel and Cyprus as well as boost the quantities imported from Azerbaijan and other countries.
The 220 million euro ($229.8 million), 182-kilometre gas link connects the Greek gas transmission system in the area of Komotini to the Bulgarian gas grid in the area of Stara Zagora. It is likely to begin commercial operations in September, outgoing Bulgarian prime minister Kiril Petkov said in March.
The pipeline is seen as an important element of the European Union's goal to give up Russian gas supplies entirely by 2030.
($ = 0.9571 euro)