For the first half of 2023, over 7.8 million Mwh are transported via the interconnector; 80% of the capacity for next gas year is successfully booked

A total of 12.7 Mwh are the natural gas volumes transported through the IGB gas pipeline since the interconnector’s commercial launch on Oct 1st 2022 up to the end of June 2023. IGB connects to the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), making Bulgaria part of the Southern Gas Corridor and enabling access to secure natural gas deliveries from diversified sources both for the country and the wider region.

“In just the first 6 months of 2023, the transported quantities amount to a total of 7.8 million Mwh. This is the equivalent of 669 million normal cubic meters”, announced ICGB’s Executive Officers Teodora Georgieva and George Satlas. According to them, the Greece – Bulgaria interconnector currently has a total of 22 registered users.

The current capacity of the pipeline connecting the gas transmission systems of Greece and Bulgaria is 3 billion cubic meters per year. 1.57 bcm/y are already booked under long-term contracts lasting up to 25 years. The remaining capacity is successfully being auctioned for different periods on the European platforms PRISMA and RBP. With the recent successful completion of the auctions for annual capacity, 80% of IGB’s total capacity for the next gas year (2023-2024) is already booked.

Recently, the independent transmission system operator ICGB responsible for the pipeline’s operations launched an incremental capacity procedure to explore the market’s interest in increasing the interconnector’s capacity to 5 bcm/y. „In close cooperation with other system operators in the region and considering the pipeline’s synergy with other projects such as the LNG terminal in Alexandroupolis and the Trans-Balkan Gas Pipeline, IGB is planned to develop further, strengthening its strategic role in the SEE region”, Georgieva and Satlas noted.

The IGB gas pipeline creates an entirely new route through Bulgaria for the transportation of natural gas from new sources to a number of countries, including Moldova and Ukraine.