Bulgartransgaz, Enagas mull cooperation in hydrogen, LNG areas

"Together with the colleagues from DESFA we develop future hydrogen infrastructures, including 250 km of hydrogen pipeline from Thessaloniki to Sofia which is to be the core of a transport corridor from Greece and Bulgaria to Central Europe," Bulgartransgaz CEO Vladimir Malinov said in a press release on Wednesday.

He added that the developers expect the hydrogen pipeline to be confirmed as a project of common interest by the European Commission. These projects benefit from accelerated permitting procedures and funding.

Enagas, a company with over 50 years' experience in the development, operation and maintenance of energy infrastructure, could contribute expertise in the development of the hydrogen technologies and the establishment of a hydrogen market, Malinov noted.

The parties also discussed the LNG market and the expected higher natural gas demand in the region in support of the decarbonisation of economies. Enagas would like to expand its activity in Southeast Europe, its business development and diversification director, Fernando Impuesto, said in the press release

Bulgartransgaz is expanding its network to guarantee the delivery of additional natural gas quantities from South to North and has pledged to invest over half a billion euro ($543 million) in capacity expansion by 2025. The company is also advancing work on the expansion of Bulgaria's Chiren underground gas storage facility and is in the early stages of studying hydrogen infrastructure.

Madrid-listed Enagas, which is active in eight countries, operates over 12,000 km of gas pipelines, eight LNG terminals and three gas storage facilities. In January, Enagas agreed to raise to 20% its stake in the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) by purchasing a 4% shareholding from Axpo for 168 million euro. TAP connects with the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) at the Greek border with Turkey, which is also linked to the Greece-Bulgaria gas interconnector, with all pipelines transporting Caspian gas from Azerbaijan to Europe.

($ = 0.9205 euro)