In the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Bulgartransgaz EAD presented the interim results of the Balkan gas hub Feasibility study. At the event, the Director of Internal Energy Market, Directorate-General for Energy of the EC, Klaus-Dieter Borchardt, emphasized that the European Commission will continue to strongly support the implementation of the project for construction of a gas distribution hub on the territory of Bulgaria. According to his own words, today's event proves that the project is feasible. The Deputy Energy Minister Stankov added that the Balkan gas distribution hub will contribute to the energy security in the region of South-east Europe. Bulgartransgaz will continue to make every effort to successfully implement the project, said Vladimir Malinov, Executive Director of the company.
Several route options for gas infrastructure on the territory of Bulgaria were presented, including two options developed on the basis of the expected sources of natural gas supply. According to experts, Balkan 1 sets out as the preferred route for hub realization, planned to be implemented in two phases. The first phase envisages new entry capacity from Turkey and the second one - an entry point near the city of Varna. Greece and Turkey are considered as other entry points (existing and new infrastructure), local Black Sea deep offshore production (from Bulgaria and Romania). The gas hub infrastructure will connect the natural gas markets of Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Hungary, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Italy, Ukraine, Moldova and others. Russian natural gas, local production from Bulgaria and Romania, natural gas from the Southern Gas Corridor (TAP and TANAP) are considered as main sources for the hub. The liquefied natural gas terminals in Greece and Turkey, already existing and currently under construction, could provide natural gas quantities from the United States, Qatar, Algeria, Egypt and others.
The realization of the Balkan gas hub concept is fully compliant with the plans for development of gas infrastructure in Europe. It will improve energy security, enable diversification of the natural gas sources and routes for supply. The project is fully in line with the those identified by the High Level Group on Gas Connectivity in Central and South-east Europe (CESEC), as well as with the development of the European Energy Union.
