ICGB, the operator of the Greece-Bulgaria natural gas pipeline, said it initiated the binding phase of market testing for expanding the pipeline's capacity to 5 billion cubic metres (bcm) per year from the current 3 bcm.
In collaboration with adjacent transmission system operators (TSOs), ICGB has published notices for the binding phase to gauge market interest in booking the pipeline’s incremental capacity, ICGB said in a press release on Monday.
The initiative is part of a broader effort to build a gas corridor linking Greece to northern Europe, joining TSOs from Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Ukraine, Moldova and Slovakia. ICGB aims to enable increased capacity for natural gas deliveries to Central and Southeastern Europe, as well as Ukraine and Moldova, it said.
Interested parties can submit their registration documents by June 24 and binding bids between July 2 and July 12. The binding phase will continue in the following months, with results expected in September.
Last September, ICGB reported significant interest during the initial non-binding phase of market testing, with gas traders expressing interest in booking up to 4 bcm per year in additional capacity for the upcoming gas years. In February, ICGB said it is awarding a Bulgarian company the contract for a detailed design scope of the Stara Zagora gas metering station, which would facilitate the pipeline's capacity expansion, without disclosing the name of the selected company.
Additionally, Bulgartransgaz, the state-owned gas transmission operator, announced on Monday that it selected two consortia in a 586.7 million levs ($325.8 million/300 million euro) tender to expand infrastructure as part of the Vertical Gas Corridor initiative.
The 182-kilometre Greece-Bulgaria gas pipeline connects Bulgaria to the Southern Gas Corridor and is part of the Vertical Gas Corridor.
(SeeNews, May 21, 2024)
