Over 1 billion kWh were transported via the gas interconnector Greece-Bulgaria in the first month of commercial operation of the gas pipeline. The total amount of natural gas for the period October 1 - November 1, 2022, amounts to 1,105,908,000 kWh or 95,000,000 cubic meters.

The 182-kilometer gas pipeline connects the gas transmission networks of Greece and Bulgaria respectively at the Komotini and Stara Zagora points and is Bulgaria's direct connection to the Trans-Adriatic Gas Pipeline (TAP). The total capacity of IGB is 3 billion cubic meters per year, with 1.57 billion cubic meters already booked under long-term contracts lasting up to 25 years.

The remaining free capacity is being offered in a transparent and accessible way on the two European platforms PRISMA and RBP. The independent transmission operator of the pipeline ICGB AD is about to announce two new auctions for free capacity for the month of December. On November 21, the company will open an auction for firm forward monthly capacity in the direction Greece-Bulgaria. At the end of the month - on November 29, an auction for interruptible reverse flow capacity (in the opposite direction Bulgaria-Greece) will be announced.

Within the past month, the first new user of the gas interconnector Greece-Bulgaria was also registered. The company Axpo Bulgaria EAD EAD (part of Axpo Group, Switzerland) has successfully gone through all the steps of the registration process and is now enabled to participate in all capacity auctions that ICGB announces on both platforms. As a transmission operator, ICGB continues discussions with all traders who are interested in booking free capacity in the IGB pipeline.

The quantities of natural gas currently being transported through the interconnector provide nearly 1/3 of Bulgaria's internal consumption since the beginning of the heating season.