site.btaProjected Gas Hub Construction Cost in Bulgaria Stands at Bln 2.2 Euro

125 ECONOMY - GAS HUB - PROJECTED COST - PM BORISSOV

Projected
Gas Hub Construction Cost in Bulgaria
Stands at Bln 2.2 Euro


Sofia, February 9 (BTA) - Prime Minister Boyko Borissov
presented a project on Monday during the meeting of the High
Level Group on Central and South Eastern Europe Gas
Connectivity, according to which the projected cost for building
a gas hub on Bulgarian territory stands at 2.2 billion euro.

The modernization of existing infrastructure will require an
additional 140 million euro. Borissov said that Bulgaria's
geographic location sets it as a strategic partner. This country
has a well designed national gas transmission network and a
balanced transit national system with a natural gas storage
facility. Among the pros, listed by Borissov, are regional oil
and gas extraction, a low domestic consumption which ensures a
high transit capacity, among others.

During his presentation Borissov also noted that a new
infrastructure, consisting of 844 km of natural gas pipelines,
will be needed, along with two compressor stations in northern
Bulgaria, as well as a receiving terminal. The existing
infrastructure will have to be upgraded, including increasing
the capacity of the Strandzha compressor station, building
additional pipelines and increasing the Chiren storage
facility's capacity.

Borissov noted that this is a key project for the single
European energy market, for overcoming Southeastern Europe's
energy dependency, for the liberalization and construction of a
competitive natural gas market in compliance with European
legislation. Commenting the environmental impact, Borissov said
that in addition to improving energy efficiency, the natural gas
infrastructure allows for lowering the harmful emissions,
compared to the ones generated by the thermal power plants.
According to the Prime Minister, the modernization of the
natural gas transmission network will allow the use of
innovative technologies and moving to an automatic management
and balancing of the natural gas transmission system. MY