Memorandum on construction of Vertical Gas Corridor extended

Representatives of ICGB AD (Bulgaria), Bulgartransgaz EAD (Bulgaria), DESFA S.A. (Greece), Gastrade S.A. (Greece), FGSZ LTD (Hungary) and SNTGN TRANSGAZ S.A. (Romania) have signed the renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding on the implementation of the Vertical Gas Corridor, Report informs referring to ICGB.

The event took place in Athens, Greece.

The adopted document aims at cooperation between the companies regarding the realization of the Vertical Gas Corridor, which will connect the networks of Bulgaria, Greece, Romania and Hungary and will allow natural gas transportation.

The improved connectivity of the transmission systems of the neighboring countries is in sync with the joint European priorities in the energy sector – increasing energy security in the region, market integration through diversification of routes and sources of natural gas, as well as increasing competition.

The IGB is designed to transport blue fuel from Shah Deniz 2 to Bulgaria. Through this pipeline, which will join TAP, Bulgaria will import 1 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year from Azerbaijan. Thus, the state company Bulgargaz EAD has signed a contract with the Shah Deniz consortium to purchase this amount of gas from the Shah Deniz-2 field. Azerbaijan will be able to meet 25-30% of Bulgaria's gas needs. Construction work on the IGB is expected to be completed in the second half of next year.

The 150 kilometers of pipeline (182 kilometers in length) will pass through Bulgaria. The annual capacity of the pipeline is estimated at 3-5 billion cubic meters.

In July, the European Commission signed a memorandum of understanding with Azerbaijan to increase the import of natural gas to at least 20 billion cubic meters per year by 2027. The final decision on doubling the capacity of the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline gas pipeline will be made early next year. Additional natural gas will come from several fields in Azerbaijan.