Greece-Bulgaria Pipe Awarded One Permit

ICGB, the company developing the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria gas pipeline project, has received the go-ahead to build on Bulgarian territory, it said October 4.

The permit, issued by the regional development ministry September 12, allows the pipeline to cross a number of regions and municipalities on its 151 km route. But the Greek construction permit and the exemption from European Union rules have yet to be issued.

The Bulgarian section, which is the longer part, passes across formerly privately-owned land and the "complicated and difficult process" involved pioneering procedural provisions, the project company said, without going into details in its statement.

The manager for the Bulgarian side of the line, Teodora Georgieva, said ICGB had managed to meet the terms needed for the permit on time and the permit was a "key and significant milestone in the project development which demonstrates readiness to start the construction after successful completion of the tender procedures.”  Construction is expected to start in mid-2018, meeting the deadline set in ICGB's timetable. 

Her Greek counterpart, Konstantinos Karayannakos, said that the "important milestone is the basis for the tender procedures" but that the Greek construction permit would have to wait until the pipeline was licensed. That will happen after it has had an exemption from the standard European Union rules for tarification, ownership and third-party access -- expected to be granted by the Greek and Bulgarian energy regulators this month and by the European Commission early next year. 

ICGB is 50% owned by state Bulgaria Energy Holdings, and 50% by IGI Poseidon – itself a 50-50 joint venture of Greek state-run gas grid Depa and EDF’s Italian subsidiary Edison.

William Powell