INTERCONNECTOR

Around 4.875 million megawatt hours were transported through the Greece-Bulgaria gas pipeline (IGB) for the period October 1 - December 31, 2022, the ICGB, the pipeline operator, told Trend.

“In December, just months after the pipeline entered commercial operation, IGB’s capacity reached over 94 percent booking rate. By the end of 2022, there are 11 registered users of the interconnector,” said the company.

Prof. Teodor Detchev, Higher School of Security and Economics, head of "Blacksea Caspia" in "The World is Business", 04.01.2023

Activities for the implementation of the stages specified in the Construction Permit for the Greece-Bulgaria Interconnector are progressing and are being implemented by the Greek construction company AVAX.

These activities do not interfere with the independent functioning of the gas pipeline, which is why the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works MRDPW approved their separation into separate stages of construction.

Europe relies on natural gas supplies from Azerbaijan.

This was stated by the ex-president of the Republic of Bulgaria, Petar Stoyanov, in "Trend" on November 17, 2022.

"Azerbaijan will play a very important role as Europe's energy partner, especially when we are facing the current energy crisis. Not only Bulgaria, but also all of Europe rely on the future energy cooperation with Azerbaijan," said Petar Stoyanov.

Over 1 billion kWh were transferred via the intersystem gas connection Greece-Bulgaria in the first month of commercial operation of the gas pipeline. The total amount of natural gas for the period October 1 - November 1, 2022 amounts to 1,105,908,000 kWh or 95,000,000 cubic meters.

The landmark Egypt-Greece Electricity Interconnection Project (GREGY), which is being developed by the Copelouzos Group company ELICA SA, was unveiled during the UN World Climate Change Conference COP 27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

Greece aims to become a hub for the transfer of electricity produced by renewables in Africa and the Middle East to Central and Western Europe, amid a drive by governments to cut dependence on Russian fossil fuels. The idea is that green energy corridors will replace the pipelines that cross the continent from east to west and from north to south. The new sources of green energy for Europe lie in the south and across the Mediterranean Sea, in North Africa and the Middle East, and the route to Europe runs through Greece.

A new reduction in the price of natural gas. The Energy and Water Regulation Commission (EWRC) approved a price of BGN 123.01 per megawatt hour for November. Thus, the reduction compared to October is slightly over 47%. “Bulgargaz” proposed the price to be 123.46, but after calculation, KEVR made the correction.

The initial statement of “Bulgargaz” from the end of October was that we would pay about BGN 130. Due to the continuing tendency for gas to become cheaper on the exchanges, the approved price is lower.

The independent transmission operator ICGB absorbed the last tranche of the long-term loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) for the implementation of the intersystem gas connection Greece-Bulgaria.

The independent transmission operator ICGB, which operates the Greece-Bulgaria commercial interconnector, has entered into a natural gas transmission contract with the American company Linden Energy LLC. The agreement is for a period of 20 years.

Linden Energy LLC is a US-based company with strategic interests in the regional natural gas market. The company recently finalized an equity stake in one of Bulgaria's largest natural gas suppliers (“Overgas”) and announced plans to build a regasification facility in Albania.