SOFIA (Bulgaria), August 11 (Seenews) - The Greek energy regulator has approved an invitation to companies to submit binding bids for the management and allocation of capacity on the upcoming Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria pipeline (IGB).
Greek and Bulgarian regulators are working together to overcome procedural problems, Greece's Regulatory Authority for Energy said on the government’s Diavgeia website on Wednesday.
In April, state-owned Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) said that six companies had filed non-binding bids to use the planned gas link - state-owned gas monopoly Bulgargaz, Greece's DEPA and Gastrade, Italy's Edison, Azerbajan's Socar and US-based Noble. Later in April, the company in charge of the project, ICGB, said that nine companies had submitted non-binding expressions of interest (EOI) to use the pipeline.
A total aggregate capacity of 4.3 bcm per year was requested for gas transportation services in firm forward mode from Greece to Bulgaria and approximately 1 bcm per year was requested for gas transportation services in firm reverse mode from Bulgaria to Greece, ICGB said at the time.
The IGB pipeline, which will be 182 km long, will link the northeastern Greek city of Komotini with Stara Zagora in Bulgaria. It is estimated to cost 220 million euro ($245.5 million). The gas link will carry 3 billion cu m of natural gas annually in its initial stage and will have a maximum capacity of 5 billion cu m per year. It will eventually be connected to the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), carrying natural gas from the Caspian Sea to Europe through Greece.
In December 2015, BEH and IGI Poseidon, a joint venture between DEPA (the Public Gas Corporation of Greece) and Edison, signed a final investment decision on the construction of the gas link.
($=0.8960 euro)