BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 8. Gas traders have expressed interest for up to 4 billion cubic meters per year of additional capacity for the next few gas years in the interconnection points of the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) with the Greek national operator DESFA and the Bulgarian national operator Bulgartransgaz, the ICGB, the pipeline operator, told TurkicWorld.

The independent transmission system operator ICGB has declared the successful conclusion of the non-binding phase for the incremental capacity process initiated in July. This phase aimed to gauge market interest in expanding the total technical capacity of the IGB pipeline.

"The market interest for a few consecutive gas years is nearly two times higher than our initial expectations. While for now these indications are non-binding for the shippers, this is a great first step towards a potential expansion of the IGB pipeline’s capacity from 3 bcm/y to 5 bcm/y", said ICGB Executive Officers George Satlas and Teodora Georgieva.

Georgieva noted that 82 percent of the total capacity for the upcoming gas year is already booked.

The IGB gas pipeline connects with the Greek national gas transmission system (DESFA S.A.) and the Trans-Adriatic gas pipeline (TAP AG) in the area of Komotini (Greece), and with the Bulgarian gas transmission system (Bulgartransgaz EAD) in the area of Stara Zagora. The total length of the gas pipeline is 182 km, the diameter of the pipe - 32'' - and a design capacity of up to 3 billion m3/year in the direction Greece - Bulgaria.

The gas pipeline enables the transportation of natural gas from new sources to other countries in the region as well, including Moldova and Ukraine.

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