BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 16
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
Over 70 km of line pipes intended for the construction of the Greece-Bulgaria gas interconnector (IGB) have already been delivered on the territory of the two countries, with active work underway for clearing the route and stringing, Trend reports citing ICGB AD project company.
The pipe stringing on Bulgarian territory reached 7 km. As of the beginning of May, line pipe welding activities have also been progressing. Currently, 50 manual welding procedures have been completed. Automatic welding is expected to start soon as well.
The non-destructive testing of the welded connections has already begun. About 50 km of the land along the route of the IGB project has been cleared, with 35 km on the territory of Bulgaria, and the rest - on the territory of Greece.
Nearly 50 percent of the required quantities of line pipes for the project have already been produced by the Greek company Corinth Pipeworks, which is responsible for the production and delivery of the line pipes.
Deliveries have been distributed in five main milestones, the first two of which have already been successfully completed. Production of the third major batch is underway at the company's plant in Boeotia, Greece.
The line pipes are being stored in four warehouses on the territory of Greece and Bulgaria - respectively near the towns of Komotini, Haskovo, Momchilgrad and Dimitrovgrad. Work on the production and delivery of line pipes for the gas interconnector is carried out according to the initial schedule, despite the unforeseen situation related to the spread of the coronavirus.
The IGB project envisages the construction of a gas interconnector that will link the gas transmission systems of Greece and Bulgaria. The total length of the gas pipeline is 182.6 km, and its capacity for gas transmission is 3 billion cubic meters per year with the option to reach 5 billion cubic meters.
The route of the gas pipeline is divided into 7 main lots, the shortest being 9.55 km long and the longest - 71.90 km. 106 km of the route in Bulgaria will be completed with automatic welding, and the remaining 45 km - by manual welding.
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