Balkan Pipeline Operator Tenders for Engineer
Project operator Interconnector Greece Bulgaria (IGB) has launched the tender for an engineer to start building the pipeline sometime in mid-2018, it said November 10. It has advertised through the Bulgarian public procurement agency and the EU Official Journal.
The engineer will provide crucial assistance to the IGB project during the construction phase through to its commissioning, supporting the management of the major contracts. The estimated value is set as a total price of €8.45mn ($8.9mn) excluding VAT.
IGB initially obtained the support of the Greek and Bulgarian energy ministries in 2009. It is also financed partly by the European Union, to the tune of €45mn from the European Energy Program for Recovery, as it is deemed a project of common interest as well as a main priority project of the EU’s Central and Southeast Europe Gas Connectivity (Cesec) initiative, which was created in 2015.
The European Investment Bank and other international credit institutions have expressed an active interest in financing IGB, and instruments including the new European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) may also be used, IGB said.
The Bulgarian government in turn has included in the state budget for 2017 access to an increased amount of state financial guarantee when negotiating loan facilities for the project of up to €110mn.
Edison's gas origination and infrastructure manager Elio Ruggieri told the European Autumn Gas Conference that the IGB was an essential part of the Southern Gas Corridor, an EU-backed scheme to introduce non-Gazprom gas into southeast Europe. Bulgaria receives all its imports from Russia at the moment, while IGB will carry gas from the Shah Deniz field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea.
IGB will be a spur line from the TransAdriatic Pipeline which carries Shah Deniz gas from the Turkey-Greece border through Greece and Albania and under the Adriatic Sea to southern Italy. IGB is a joint venture between the IGI Poseidon and Bulgaria's gas transmission system operator Bulgargas. IGI Poseidon itself is a joint venture between Edison and Greek Depa. Edison is the Italian subsidiary of French power major EDF.
Willliam Powell