Bulgaria sees IGB start in March 2013
Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, right, speaks with his Bulgarian counterpart Boyko Borisov in Athens, 17 December 2012. | AFP PHOTO/ARIS MESSINIS
On 17 December, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov told a press conference with his Greek counterpart Antonis Samaras in Athens that the construction of the Interconnector Bulgaria-Greece (IGB) is to start in March 2013.
The 170 kilometre-long IGB will connect the Thracian towns of Stara Zagora in Bulgaria with Komotini in Greece.
The gas pipeline will have a capacity of three billion cubic metres of gas per year with an option to increase it to five billion cubic metres per year.
The total cost of IGB is estimated at €150 million, out of which €45 million will be awarded by the EU which strongly supports IGB as an implementation of the bloc’s natural gas diversification strategy in the Southeast European region since it will likely transport Azerbaijani gas. IGB could connect with the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP).
The shareholders of the Athens-based venture will be the Poseidon consortium, in which Greece’s DEPA and Italy’s Edison are involved. From the Bulgarian side, the partner will be Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH).
In April 2009, Athens and Sofia signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the project.
On 17 December, Borisov said in Athens that interconnectors would increase Bulgaria’s energy security. The governments of Greece and Bulgaria held the second joint summit of their Council for Cooperation.
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