The interconnector links Bulgaria to the Trans Adriatic Pipeline, allowing for Azerbaijani gasto be transmitted from Greece to Italy and the SEE region
The interconnector Greece-Bulgaria has successfully connected to the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP). The physical tie-in was executed with two golden welds, joining the gas metering station at Komotini with the existing TAP infrastructure just a few hundred meters north of IGB’s above-ground facility.
Months of careful planning and collaboration between ICGB’s team and TAP went into the prep work for the connection between the two transmission system operators. The successful connection of the infrastructure of the two energy projects is a significant milestone towards IGB’s completion and commercial launch planned for this year.
Following the mandatory non-destructivetesting, the section of the tie-in will be backfilled, and all mechanical works will be considered finished. Next, the instrumentation and control systems shall be installed and integrated with TAP, allowing transparent monitoring of the incoming gas flow into the IGB pipeline.
Upon the start of commercial operation activities, the IP point between TAP and IGB will accommodate an initial quantity of 1 bcm/y as contracted by Bulgargaz. This could be further increased up to 3 bcm/y, which is the current capacity of the IGB pipeline.
The interconnector has the potential to see its maximum capacity increased up to a total of 5 bcm/y, given the increasingly unstable geopolitical situation and the great synergy of the project with planned and existing LNG terminals in the region. IGB is the only pipeline which directly connects Bulgaria’snatural gas market with the Southern Gas Corridor.
The IGB pipeline is also to be connected to the gas transmission infrastructure of the Bulgarian national operator Bulgartransgaz in the region of Stara Zagora, near the pipeline’s second gas metering station. A physical connection is also planned with the natural gas transmission system of the Greek operator DESFA. All preparations on IGB’s side have already been completed and it’s expected that DESFA will provide a timeline for the tie-in in the coming weeks.
