(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 1. Capacity utilization
of the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) is expected to remain
above 90 percent in 2023 and 2024, Executive Officer of ICGB, the
pipeline operator, Teodora Georgieva said in an exclusive interview
with trend .
'In 2023, ICGB, as a reliable transmission operator, will
fulfill the already undertaken commitments to transfer gas
quantities under the already signed long-term contracts,' she
said.
Georgieva noted that the market of natural gas in the region and
Europe as a whole is very dynamic right now, given the ongoing war
in Ukraine as well as the measures that European countries are
taking to overcome its consequences.
'As a result of these circumstances, in the third month since
the start of commercial operation of IGB, the capacity of the gas
pipeline was utilized above 90 percent. We expect that this trend
will persist and continue in 2023 and possibly in 2024, but
ultimately this will be determined by the needs and demand for
natural gas of the countries in the region,' said the executive
officer.
The Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria began commercial operation on
October 1, 2022.
Since the beginning of the current heating season, the
interconnector provides nearly 1/3 of the winter consumption of
natural gas in Bulgaria. IGB is the first route for diversified
supplies of natural gas to Bulgaria, guaranteeing increased
security of supply and diversity of sources, contributing
significantly to the competition in the natural gas market, which
is a prerequisite for optimized prices for businesses and domestic
consumers in the country.
The gas pipeline creates an entirely new route through Bulgaria
for the transportation of natural gas from new sources to a number
of countries, which reinforces the key role of the interconnector
not only at a national level, but also for the entire region of
Central and Southeastern Europe.
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