ICGB to sell free gas on European platform

The ICGB company responsible for building the Greece-Bulgaria Interconnector (IGB) will provide access to its free capacity in Greece at the points of connection with the DESFA gas transmission network and the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) gas pipeline through the PRISMA platform, as Report was told at ICGB, the company has signed a contract with PRISMA European Capacity Platform, which provides similar services to shippers.

“The capacity of the IGB pipeline is 3 billion cubic meters per year from Greece to Bulgaria and can be increased to 5 billion cubic meters, which will allow the return flow if there is interest from the market,” Teodora Georgieva, ICGB executive director from Bulgaria, said.

At present, half of the capacity of the interconnector has already been reserved - a total of 1.57 billion cubic meters. Four of the five shippers, who have booked capacity, are completely new actors in the Bulgarian market, she noted.

“This gives reason to believe that international interest in the project will only grow after its commercial launch,” she said.

According to her, the inclusion in the list of operators providing natural gas transit capacity on the PRISMA platform will allow ICGB to target new markets, further strengthening the position of Bulgaria and Greece in the energy sector in the region.

PRISMA currently unites a total of 19 markets with more than 40 infrastructure operators. The platform works with over 660 shippers, allowing operators to sell their products in a transparent and secure way.