site.btaGas Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria Hydrotested Successfully

The entire route of the Gas Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) has been successfully hydrotested, the project company, ICGB AD, said on Thursday. The interconnector is of crucial importance for diversifying the sources and routes of gas supplies to Bulgaria, which now is almost entirely dependent on Russian gas.

Hydrostatic pressure testing is one of several methods to reconfirm the structural integrity of a gas pipeline. The test involves filling a pipeline segment with water until it is at a pressure that is higher than the pipeline will ever operate with natural gas. The test allows the project company to confirm the safe working pressure of the pipeline and to guarantee that the installation is structurally sound, verifying its quality. 

ICGB executive directors Teodora Georgieva and Konstantinos Karayannakos said that the finalization of the hydrostatic pressure testing is a key step towards finishing the interconnector and putting it into operation. In their words, the IGB project is strategical and ever more important not only for Bulgaria and Greece but also for the whole region, therefore the construction company is expected to finish their work as soon as possible in order for the corresponding institutions to start all necessary administrative procedures for putting the interconnector into operation. 

Georgieva and Karayannakov inspected on site the implementation of the current construction works both in Bulgaria and in Greece to assess the progress made by the construction company. As at mid-April, 91 per cent of all construction works have been completed. Among the main elements that need to be finished are two gas metering stations at Stara Zagora, South Central Bulgaria, and at Komotini, Greece. Recultivation is underway along the finished linear part of the interconnector, with 31 km out of the 182 km route being already in conformity with the ecological norms. 

The fifth environmental audit of the IGB was recently concluded in accordance with the ICGB's ecological commitments and the requirements set by the European Investment Bank as funding institution of the project. No significant discrepancies were established, the ICGB recalled.

IGB link the natural gas transmission networks of the two neighbouring countries, thus providing access to the Southern Gas Corridor and a range of new gas sources. The pipeline will be 182 km long in total, most of it in Bulgarian territory. It will run through the municipalities of Stara Zagora, Haskovo, Dimitrovgrad and Kardjali 

The Bulgarian government expects Azeri gas to be flowing to Bulgaria through the interconnector as of September.