The new gas pipeline connecting Bulgaria with Greece (IGB) will be ready by the end of next week and will receive an operating permit, Acting Minister of Regional Development and Public Works Ivan Shishkov said, Report informs citing the Bulgarian media.
He started a new inspection of the Stara Zagora Gas Metering Station - the first stop on his plan to inspect the Greece-Bulgaria gas interconnector. "We are doing all we can to complete the project on time," Shishkov told reporters.
The minister added that by the end of next week the construction must be completed, and all documents concerning the construction must be collected. "As of now, I am not worried, but we have to keep up the pace that was set about a month ago," he asserted.
According to Shishkov, the sites are nearing completion, and the deadline for commercial operation of the facility will be met.
The pipeline is open, and Azerbaijani gas is expected to flow from Komotini along the 183-kilometre route with a capacity of three billion cubic meters to Stara Zagora. Since mid-June, the pipes have been filled with test quantities of natural gas.
On September 11, Prime Minister Galab Donev confirmed that the interconnector will be issued Act 15 - a certificate confirming the completion of work.
Starting September 12, 72-hour tests are carried out of the Greece-Bulgaria interconnector, said Teodora Georgieva, Executive Director on the Bulgarian side of the company that designed and operates the ICGB pipe. The facility was filled with 3.6 million cubic meters of gas back in June, Georgieva pointed out.
“Now we have purchased additional gas and will supplement this amount up to 5 million cubic meters, which will increase the pressure in the pipe,” Georgieva explained. “These samples must be submitted to the building control inspection and the regional ministry. The tests will flow gas in both directions - more from Greece to Bulgaria and less from Bulgaria to Greece,” Georgieva added.
IGB provides for the gas transportation to Bulgaria produced within the second stage of operation of the Shah Deniz gas condensate field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea.
The state company Bulgargaz EAD signed a contract with the Shah Deniz consortium for the supply of 1 billion cubic meters of gas from the Shah Deniz-2 field. Azerbaijani natural gas will be able to satisfy 25-30% of Bulgaria’s needs.
Some 150 kilometers of the pipeline with a total length of 182 kilometers run through the territory of Bulgaria. The annual capacity of the pipeline is expected to be 3-5 billion cubic meters.