site.btaBulgarian, Greek Energy Ministers Discuss Gas Interconnector, LNG Terminal near Alexandroupolis

Bulgarian, Greek Energy Ministers Discuss Gas Interconnector, LNG Terminal near Alexandroupolis

Thessaloniki/Sofia, May 17 (BTA) - The energy ministers of Bulgaria and Greece Monday reaffirmed the political support for the implementation of projects for a gas interconnector and an LNG terminal near the northern Greek town of Alexandroupolis, the Energy Ministry said on Tuesday.

Bulgaria's Energy Minister Temenouzhka Petkova and Greece's Environment and Energy Minister Panagiotis Skourletis concurred that the two projects should develop simultaneously and that they are interdependent.

The two officials discussed the first phase of the Market Test, conducted for tentative booking of Greece-Bulgaria interconnector pipeline capacity. Nine companies requested a total aggregate capacity of 4.3 billion cubic metres a year for gas transportation services in firm forward flow from Greece to Bulgaria, exceeding the originally planned pipeline capacity.

Petkova stressed that the two projects would ensure competitive prices of energy resources and competitive economies in Bulgaria and Greece.

The legal, financial and technical parameters of the LNG terminal are to be specified by the year's end. Petkova and Skourletis pledged to continue working on both projects. The Greece-Bulgaria interconnector and the LNG terminal will function within the European Energy Union, providing energy security in the region.

Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Donchev, responsible for EU Funds and Economic Policy, and Petkova are participating in the groundbreaking ceremony for the Trans Adriatic Pipeline in Thessaloniki on Tuesday.

TAP, which is part of the Southern Gas Corridor, will transport natural gas from the Caspian sea (Azerbaijan), starting from the Turkish-Greek border and crossing Northern Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea before coming ashore in Southern Italy. Bulgaria will be connected to TAP through the gas interconnector with Greece.