182 kilometers long Bulgaria-Greece gas interconnection is designed with the capacity between 3 and 5 billion cubic meters of gas per year, but it could be extended up to 10 billion cubic meters in case of commercial interest and economic justification. The construction of the pipeline officially started on 22 May 2019.
A gas interconnection project between Greece and Bulgaria, aimed at helping Bulgaria reduce its dependence on Russian gas imports, has hit another delay and will not become operational until the end of June 2022.
The statement from ICGB, a joint venture company of Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) and IGI Poseidon, in which Greek Public Gas Corporation (DEPA) and Italian Edison hold equal stakes, said that the coronavirus pandemic and need for an additional environmental assessment for a crossing under a dam in the Bulgarian section have delayed the construction of the pipeline.
The so-called IGB pipeline was planned to be commissioned by the end of 2020, when Bulgaria’s 25-year deal with the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) to import 1 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year starts.
