site.btaBulgartransgaz Opens Again Three Closed Public Procurement Procedures for Expansion of Chiren Gas Storage Facility

Bulgartransgaz EAD Friday said it is opening again three public procurement procedures in relation to the Chiren underground gas storage facility closed in mid-June, a project which the State-owned gas operator says aim the expansion of the facility from the present 550 mln cu m to 1.0 billion cu m. 

This time, all three procedures are tabled en bloc, offers will be accepted until September 19 and will be opened on the next day. The term for execution of the project is 600 days.

The three public procurements are estimated to cost a total of over BGN 517 million.

The previous procedures, two of which were appealed before the Commission for Protection of Competition, were called off because of the change in the terms of payment to future contractors as a state guarantee was provided to Bulgartransgaz to withdraw a low-cost loan of nearly EUR 208 million by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. In addition, In January 2022, Bulgartransgaz received an EUR 78 million grant for the project from the European Commission.

The first public procurement procedure is for the construction and putting into operation of a new gas metering station and a compressor station with the related technological installations. The procedure would allow the facility round-the-clock operability in changeable mode. This is the costliest procurement estimated at BGN 300 million, VAT excluded.

The second public procurement is for spatial development, project design, delivery of materials and equipment, as well as construction and putting into operation of 13 new underground sondages. The project is forecast to cost BGN 133.694 million, VAT excluded.

The third public procurement procedure is aimed at providing project design for the construction of a gas pipeline connecting the Chiren facility with the existing gas transmission network of Bulgartransgaz in the area of Boutan village. The procedure’s estimated value is BGN 83.915 million, VAT excluded.

The expansion of the gas storage facility has been prepared for years and the project is of strategic importance for improving energy security, as well as boosting competition and liquidity on the natural gas market in Bulgaria and the region.

Since 2013, the expansion of the Chiren facility has been in the Projects of Common Interest category of the EU; it is also a Three Seas Initiative priority project. The project is part of Bulgaria’s energy strategy and is an inseparable part of the infrastructure contributing to the concept of  a gas distribution centre on the country’s territory, together with the projects for modernizing Bulgartransgaz’ infrastructure, the Alexandroupolis liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal, and the gas interconnectors with Greece and Serbia.