Bulgaria refuses to extend deadline for commissioning IGB

The construction of the gas connection (Gas Interconnector Greece - Bulgaria, IGB) is carried out mainly by the Greek company Avax. The company has requested yet another deadline extension for putting the interconnector into operation, but the Bulgarian authorities have refused, Bulgarian Energy Minister Alexander Nikolov said in parliament on January 6, Report informs referring to Euractiv.

There is a risk that the new target date for placing the gas connection onstream – July 1, 2022, will not be met, he added.

After many delays, the construction of the 182 km-long pipeline started in May 2019 and according to the contract should have been completed by the end of 2021.

Bulgaria insists that this target date is non-negotiable. “The goal is for the gas interconnector with Greece to be put into operation by 1 July, so that it is ready for the next heating season and Bulgaria receives the entire amount of natural gas under the agreement with Azerbaijan,” Nikolov told the MPs.

He suggested that a new builder could be sought to complete the pipeline. According to the construction contract, the company owes 90,000 euros a day in penalties from January 1 this year. This money has not yet been paid, but it cannot compensate for the losses anyway.

On December 20 last year, the prime ministers of Bulgaria and Greece, Kiril Petkov and Kyriakos Mitsotakis, issued a joint statement that ICBG would be completed in a matter of months. They noted that the gas interconnector is vital for both sides. Mitsotakis said that Athens and Sofia would start “a new stage” of their cooperation on this occasion.

However, at the beginning of December, the interconnector was only 70% built, and the delay on the Greek side was reportedly even more significant. Not all pipes have been laid along the route, and neither tests nor reclamation has been performed.

The purpose of the construction of the interconnector is to connect the Bulgarian gas transmission network with the Greek network, which would also allow importing gas from the LNG terminals in the country. The interconnector with Greece is considered by the European institutions and the United States as crucial for Bulgaria’s energy security.

The IGB is intended for export of natural gas to Bulgaria produced within the second phase of the development of the Shah Deniz gas condensate field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea.

State-owned Bulgargaz EAD signed a contract with the Shah Deniz consortium for the purchase of 1 billion cubic meters of gas from the Shah Deniz 2 field. Azerbaijani gas will cover 25-30% of Bulgaria’s natural gas needs. The length of the interconnector is 182 km, of which 150 km run through the territory of Bulgaria. The annual capacity of the interconnector is provided in the amount of 3-5 billion cubic meters.