September 2011, Vol. 238 No. 9

Projects

Partners Signs Agreement for Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria

The contract for the Front End Engineering Design (FEED) and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was signed between Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria “ICGB AD” and the Consortium Penspen Ltd. – C&M Engineering S.A. The Consortium was awarded the contract as a conclusion of an international tender issued in January.

The project now enters into a decisive phase as the provision of the FEED and EIA services will start shortly with a forecasted completion in the fourth quarter of 2012. The interconnector is a 170-km pipeline. The transit capacity is of 3 Bcm/a which could be increased to 5 Bcm/a with reverse flow capability. The project will connect Komotini (Greece) and Stara Zagora (Bulgaria).

The interconnector is a project of strategic importance for Greece and Bulgaria since it reinforces the security and provides diversification of supply in southeastern Europe. The project, together with the development of the Turkey-Greece-Italy (ITGI) gas supply corridor, will enable the
delivery of Caspian and Central Asian gas to southeastern Europe as early as 2014. The interconnector will provide an opportunity to supply LNG from terminals in Greece and Turkey.