Greece-Bulgaria gas link operator buoyed by Alexandroupolis LNG FID

The developer of a key pipeline designed to bring gas from Azerbaijan into Bulgaria via Greece said Feb. 1 that the recent final investment decision for the LNG import terminal at Alexandroupolis in northern Greece was set to further boost the utilization of the new link.

The five equal shareholders in Greece's Gastrade took the FID for the planned 5.5 Bcm/year terminal on Jan. 28, paving the way for the project to begin operations by the end of 2023.

The terminal will allow regasified LNG to move northward through the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB), adding a new connection of global LNG markets to Bulgaria and the wider southeast European region.

The pipeline will be able to transport up to 3 Bcm/year in forward flow to Bulgaria -- with an option to increase that to 5 Bcm/year -- and was originally designed for gas from Azerbaijan flowing through the TAP pipeline to enter Bulgaria.

The project already has capacity of 1.57 Bcm/year booked and its completion will bring four new shippers to the Bulgarian market.

"Finalizing the LNG terminal will boost IGB's capacity utilization, allowing transportation of greater quantities of gas to the southeast European region," IGB developer ICGB said in a statement.

ICGB is 50% co-owned by Bulgaria's state-owned BEH and a joint venture between Greece's DEPA and Italy's Edison.

Pipeline capacity

The new LNG terminal would also provide the opportunity for ICGB to increase its pipeline capacity to 5 Bcm/year, it said, allowing gas supply at "competitive prices" from various new sources such as the US, Qatar and Algeria to reach Bulgarian consumers.

"Due to the strategic synergy between the LNG terminal and the IGB pipeline, market interest in the Greek-Bulgaria interconnector will receive an additional boost, opening new opportunities for increased capacity of the pipeline and reverse flow," it said.

Bulgaria's Bulgargaz booked some 0.5 Bcm/year of the capacity during the 2020 binding market test for a period of 3-5 years.

"The company has committed to contract the supply of LNG to consumers in Bulgaria at competitive price terms through the Greece-Bulgaria interconnector," ICGB said.

The IGB is part of the much-heralded Southern Gas Corridor, but the project is running well behind schedule with the most recent delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Commercial operations are expected to begin only in the second half of 2022.