The European Commission has approved Bulgarian and Greek plans to support the construction of the 3 bcm/year IGB natural gas interconnection project. Expected to contribute to the diversification and the security of EU energy supplies, it is in line with the EU State aid rules and will not distort competition unduly.
The IGB project is a 182 km cross-border interconnector, which will span between Komotini in Greece and Stara Zagora in Bulgaria. Shipments of natural gas are expected to start in 2021. Later on, a second phase could increase its capacity to 5 bcm/year and enable physical reverse flow capacity from Bulgaria to Greece.
IGB will be owned and operated by ICGB, a 50-50 joint venture (JV) between the IGI Poseidon consortium (which includes Edison and the Greek gas gas company DEPA) and the Bulgarian state-run gas company BEH. The total cost of the project is expected to reach €240m, of which €46m will be financed by the IGB venture shareholders, €45m by the European Energy Programme for Recovery (EEPR), €110m by the European Investment Bank (EIB) and €39m directly from the Bulgarian State budget via the Bulgarian Operational Programme "Innovation and Competitiveness" 2014-2020.