May 22 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria's government said that the construction of the 220 million euro ($245.7 million) gas interconnector with Greece started on Wednesday.
Through the gas link, Bulgaria will receive Azeri gas from the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), and could also receive liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the terminal near Greece's Aegean city of Alexandroupolis, the government press office said in a statement following the groundbreaking ceremony.
"The project will contribute to improving the energy security and to a more integrated regional gas market," the European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic was quoted as saying in the statement.
Earlier this month, ICGB - the project company developing the Greece-Bulgaria gas link project, picked Greece's J&P-Avax to buid the interconnector under a 144.8 million euro ($162.6 million) contract.
Construction works should be completed in 18 months, ICGB said at the time.
The IGB pipeline will connect the Greek gas transmission system in the area of Komotini to the Bulgarian gas transmission system in the area of Stara Zagora.
The planned length of the pipeline is 182 km and the projected capacity will be up to 3 billion cu m per year in the direction from Greece to Bulgaria.
The project is being implemented by the joint venture company ICGB, in which state-owned Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) and Greece-registered IGI Poseidon hold equal stakes.
($ = 0.8954 euro)