BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 30. The
Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) pipeline holds potential for
transporting hydrogen as a blend, even at low percentages, aligning
with the EU’s clean energy goals and supporting Bulgaria’s climate
commitments, Teodora Georgieva, ICGB Executive Officer, said in an
exclusive interview with Trend.
“Preliminary studies indicate that small amounts of hydrogen can
be mixed with natural gas, although higher levels would require
targeted infrastructure investments,” she explained.
The executive officer pointed out that ICGB is currently
evaluating market interest to determine whether there is
substantial demand for hydrogen transport services in the
region.
“This assessment could guide us in aligning future projects with
the European Hydrogen Backbone initiative, aimed at establishing a
cross-border hydrogen network across Europe. With Bulgaria and
Greece already advancing joint hydrogen strategies and planning
interconnections, infrastructure will eventually allow cross-border
hydrogen flow, boosting energy resilience and accelerating
decarbonization in Eastern Europe. This is a development we’re
closely monitoring,” said Georgieva.
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 pipeline’s design capacity is up to 3 billion cubic meters
per year in the direction Greece – Bulgaria.
Depending on the market interest for larger capacity and the
possibilities of the neighboring gas transmission systems, the
capacity of IGB is designed with the option for increase up to 5
billion cubic meters per year with additional construction of a
compressor station.
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