Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb.19
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
Further market tests will be conducted before commissioning the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB), which envisages transportation of Azerbaijani gas to Bulgaria, Teodora Georgieva, executive officer at ICGB AD joint venture company, the project’s operator, told Trend.
She noted that currently the efforts of the project company are focused towards successfully launching of the public procurement procedures and obtaining of a decision for exemption from the rules for regulated third party access.
“Based on the successfully completed market test, the project company has submitted a refinement to the exemption application which was sent to the regulatory authorities – EWRC and RAE - on July 14, 2017 to take a final decision for exemption from the rules for regulated third party access. The procedure is expected to be completed by the end of first quarter of 2018 based on which the gas transportation agreements will be signed with shippers that have booked capacity in the gas pipeline,” said Georgieva.
She believes that after the grant for the project is reconfirmed and award for the companies responsible for construction finalized, a serious message for the intention to construct the pipeline will be given to the market and this will inevitably lead to an increase in the commercial interest.
“Until the entry of the pipeline into operation, further market tests will be conducted to confirm the market interest,” noted Georgieva.
Regarding the preparations for construction of IGB, she said that at this stage the efforts of the project company are focused on the successful conduct of the key tender procedures, crucial for the construction start – Owner Engineering, Line Pipe supply and EPC (engineering procurement and construction).
She recalled that a construction permit for the Bulgarian section of the pipeline was issued on September 12, 2017.
“This was a key and significant milestone in the project development which demonstrates the readiness to start construction after successful completion of the tender procedures,” said Georgieva.
She noted that the construction of the pipeline is expected to start in the second half of 2018 and entering into operation of the pipeline according to the road map – in June 2020.
Further, Georgieva said that pursuant to the Greek legislation, the construction permit for the Greek territory can be received once the pipeline obtains a license for a transmission system operator, which will happen after the decision for exemption from the rules for tariff, ownership and access to third parties is taken, expected to be adopted in the first quarter of 2018.
IGB is a gas pipeline, which will allow Bulgaria to receive Azerbaijani gas, in particular, the gas produced from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz 2 gas and condensate field. IGB is expected to be connected to the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) via which gas from the Shah Deniz field will be delivered to the European markets.
The initial capacity of IGB will be 3 billion cubic meters of gas.
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