April 30 (SeeNews) - ICGB, the project company developing the Gas Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria, said on Monday that it has opened a 145 million euro ($175.6 million) tender for the design, procurement and construction of the gas link
"The launch of this procurement ensures the actual commencement of the construction of the pipeline and we expect entering into commercial operation in 2020," Dr. Konstantinos Karayannakos, executive officer of ICGB on the Greek side, said in a statement.
The selection of a contractor will be carried out in two phases - pre-selection, followed by review, evaluation and ranking of offers.
Through a preliminary selection ICGB will assess and determine the candidates which have the required financial and technical capacity to implement the subject matter of the public procurement according to the set requirements, the company said.
"The launch of this procedure demonstrates in unequivocal and unambiguous way our commitment to the implementation of this project and is a sign that it is indeed in an extremely advanced stage, which creates conditions for the construction of the pipeline to start in the last quarter of 2018," Teodora Georgieva, executive officer of ICGB on the Bulgarian side, said.
Earlier this month, ICGB said it will choose a supplier for the pipes for the project in June.
The IGB pipeline will connect the Greek gas transmission system in the area of Komotini to the Bulgarian gas transmission system in the area of Stara Zagora.
The planned length of the pipeline is 182 km and the projected capacity will be up to 3 billion cu m per year in the direction from Greece to Bulgaria. Depending on interest from the market and the capacities of the neighbouring gas transmission systems, the capacity of the pipeline can be increased up to 5 billion cu m per year, thus allowing for physical reverse flow from Bulgaria to Greece with the additional installation of a compressor station.
The gas link is estimated to cost 220 million euro. The project company has secured a sovereign guarantee of 110 million euro under the annual state budget act, which could ensure loan financing under preferable conditions.
The project is being implemented by the joint venture company ICGB, in which state-owned Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) and Greece-registered IGI Poseidon hold equal shares. Greek public gas corporation DEPA and Italian energy group Edison own 50% each of IGI Poseidon.
($= 0.8257 euro)