Bulgartransgaz picks Tech Energy Expansion for Chiren above-ground works

The contract comprises supply of materials and equipment, the construction and the commissioning of the above-ground facilities at Bulgaria's sole gas storage site, Bulgartransgaz said in a press release.

Tech Energy Expansion comprises Bulgarian construction company Glavbolgarstroy, its international subsidiary of the same name, Bulgarian firm Protracing and Poland-based Techmadex. The consortium vied with a group made up of Chiren Had 2022, local Atomenergoremont, Silver Way and German group Habau.

Bulgartransgaz moved to nearly double the capacity of Chiren to 1 billion cubic metres (bcm) from 550 bcm in erly 2022 through three separate tenders. The gas supplier relaunched them in August after a temporary halt called by the competition regulator following a complaint.

The contracts for the expansion of Chiren are worth around 600 million levs in total, with works expected to be completed by the end of 2024, the state gas grid operator said. The projects also receive financing from the EU's Connecting Europe Facility. In January, the European Commission granted 78 million euro ($84.3 million) to Bulgartransgaz for the expansion project.

(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)