BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 11. The Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria has become a number one source of natural gas for Bulgaria covering around half of the country’s demand, said George Satlas, executive officer and board member of ICGB AD, the pipeline operator, Trend reports.
He pointed out that since its launch on October 1, 2022, over 1 billion cubic meters (bcm) have been transported through the interconnector.
“At the same time, IGB allows for natural gas transport to other countries in the region, including Moldova and Ukraine, given its great synergy with the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline. After the commercial start of the interconnector, we have more than 20 registered users and have seen enough market interest to even start considering expansion of the total capacity. This is beyond what we expected as a new transmission operator entering the market in our first year,” added Satlas.
With the current total capacity of approximately 3 bcm/y, the interconnector has already allocated 1.57 bcm/y under long-term contracts, providing access to natural gas from Azerbaijan. The remaining available capacity is being offered through two major European platforms: the PRISMA booking platform for the interconnection points at Komotini, Greece, in coordination with the transmission system operator of the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) and DESFA, and the Regional Booking Platform (RBP) for the interconnection point at Stara Zagora, Bulgaria, in cooperation with the national operator Bulgartransgaz.
Furthermore, ICGB (Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria) has recently initiated an incremental capacity process to assess the market demand for additional capacity, aiming to explore opportunities for expanding the IGB pipeline to approximately 5 bcm/y.
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