Greece-Bulgaria gas interconnector flows 1.1 TWh in first month: operator

The new gas interconnector between Greece and Bulgaria -- which began commercial operations on Oct. 1 -- flowed a total of 1.1 TWh (95 million cu m) of gas in its first month of operation, operator ICGB said Nov. 10.

The total flow was more than had been expected, with ICGB saying Oct. 1 that a total of 889 GWh was set to be delivered in October.

"The quantities of gas currently being transported through the interconnector provide nearly one third of Bulgaria's internal consumption since the beginning of the heating season," ICGB said.

At current rates, gas flow via the new pipeline on an annualized basis would be 1.1 Bcm, with Bulgarian gas demand last year totaling around 3.3 Bcm.

The interconnector -- which allows gas from Azerbaijan and regasified Greek LNG to flow northward to Bulgaria and the wider region -- is able to transport up to 3 Bcm/year of gas and is expected to be expanded to 5 Bcm/year in the coming years.

Some 1.57 Bcm/year of capacity has already been booked in the interconnector under 25-year contracts.

In a statement, ICGB -- co-owned by Bulgaria's BEH and a joint venture between Greece's DEPA and Italy's Edison -- said the remaining free capacity was being offered on two European platforms, PRISMA and RBP.

ICGB said it would hold an auction on Nov. 21 for firm forward monthly capacity in the direction Greece-Bulgaria for December.

At the end of the month on Nov. 29, an auction for interruptible reverse flow capacity in the opposite direction Bulgaria-Greece for December is to be opened.

New registrant

ICGB also said that the first new user of the interconnector had been registered.

It said Axpo Bulgaria -- part of Switzerland-based Axpo Group -- had successfully gone through all the steps of the registration process and was now able to participate in all capacity auctions on both platforms.

"As a transmission operator, ICGB continues discussions with all traders who are interested in booking free capacity in the pipeline," it said.

The startup of the interconnector came at a critical time for Bulgaria, which was cut off from its Russian gas supply in April after Sofia refused to comply with Moscow's ruble-based payment mechanism.

Uncertainty over Russian supply behavior pushed European gas prices to record highs this summer, though healthy gas storage levels, mild weather and demand reductions have seen prices drop sharply in recent months.

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed the benchmark Dutch TTF month-ahead price at Eur112.50/MWh Nov. 9, down from the record high of Eur319.98/MWh Aug. 26.

The interconnector will allow Bulgaria to take the full 1 Bcm/year it has contracted to buy from Azerbaijan.

Sofia has also said it hopes that Azerbaijan may be able to supply more gas on top of the contracted 1 Bcm/year with Bulgargaz.

Bulgaria began importing gas from Azerbaijan at the end of 2020 via the existing Kulata entry point further to the west while it waited for the interconnector to be completed.