ICGB, a joint venture company of Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) and IGI Poseidon, in which Greek Public Gas Corporation (DEPA) and Italian Edison hold equal stakes, and the independent transmission operator of the Greece-Bulgaria gas interconnection (IGB pipeline), said that it has received fourth and final tranche of the 109.9 million euros loan for the development of the interconnection project.
The statement from the operator said that, by the end of the year, it plans to request the last payments due under the 45 million euros European Energy Recovery Program (EEPR) grant and the 39 million euros allocated under the EU’s Innovation and Competitiveness 2014-2020 operational program.
The agreement with the EIB was signed in 2019, at the start of the pipeline’s construction. ICGB said that the total value of the interconnection project amounted to 253 million euros, a part of which was secured from the project company’s shareholders.
Commercial operation of the interconnector with annual capacity of 3 billion cubic meters of gas started on 1 October. The gas interconnector between Greece and Bulgaria can have its capacity increased to 5 billion cubic meters, which will also allow for reverse flow in the direction of Stara Zagora – Komotini. This requires the construction of a compressor station in Komotini, which will be ready in 2024, at the same time as the commissioning of the LNG terminal in Alexandroupoli in northern Greece.
