"We intend to deliver natural gas to Bulgaria either through the interconnector with Greece, or through the Alexandroupolis LNG terminal. [...] We are familiar Bulgaria's plans to become a gas distribution centre," the energy ministry quoted the Cyprus energy minister, Yiorgos Lakkotrypis, as saying after a meeting with his Bulgarian counterpart Temenuzhka Petkova in Nicosia.
Petkova discussed with Lakkotrypis the progress in the implementation of projects for diversification of natural gas sources and supply routes, including the construction of gas hub Balkan in Bulgaria and the Interconnection Greece-Bulgaria (IGB), as well as the intention of the Bulgarian government to participate in the project for building an offshore LNG terminal near the Greek Aegean port of Alexandroupolis, according to the statement.
Bulgaria is among the countries included in Cyprus' plans to build a common corridor for the supply of natural gas from the Mediterranean basin to Europe, Lakkotrypis said. He added that the Aphrodite gas field in the Cypriot economic zone in the Mediterranean contains one of the largest gas deposits discovered in recent years.
Bulgaria plans to receive gas from the offshore terminal near Alexandroupolis which will have the capacity feed gas into the transmission systems in the Southeastern European region. The Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) will reach the floating terminal by means of gas carriers. Commercial operations at Alexandroupolis LNG terminal are expected to commence in 2018.
The Alexandroupolis terminal will create a fourth natural gas import gate into Greece, with a send-out capacity of 700,000 cubic metres (cu m) of natural gas per hour, or 6.1 billion cu m per year, and a storage capacity of up to 170,000 cu m.
The IGB pipeline will link the northeastern Greek city of Komotini with Stara Zagora in central Bulgaria. It is estimated to cost 220 million euro ($245.5 million). The pipeline will carry 3 billion cu m of natural gas annually in its initial stage and will have a maximum capacity of 10 billion cu m per year. It will eventually be connected to the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), which is planned to carry Azeri gas to Europe through Greece.
Bulgaria imports about 90% of the natural gas it needs from Russia through a pipeline crossing the territories of Ukraine, Moldova and Romania.
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