Editorial comment
Whilst 2019 winds to a close, the same cannot be said for the pipeline industry, where activity ploughs onwards to 2020. Specific attention can be drawn to Europe and the Gas Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) project, a 182 km long cross-border natural gas pipeline which will transport gas from Greece to Bulgaria, with a capacity of approximately 3 billion m3/y that can be increased to 5 billion m3/y in the future.
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Earlier in 2019, J&P AVAX, a Greek construction company, was selected as the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor, with a bill of €145 million and an estimated timeline of 18 months to execute the contract. Meanwhile, Corinth Pipeworks Industry S.A., also from Greece, signed a contract to manufacture and supply the line pipe, with the contract covering the pipe supply for the entire pipeline route, on both Bulgarian and Greek territories. This pipe supply contract was appealed by Bulgarian company Toplivo-2 EOOD, one of the three candidates that made it to the second phase (from the initial 11 candidates, Erciyas Steel Pipe Co., Toplivo-2 EOOD, and Corinth Pipeworks Industry S.A. progressed to the second stage), but this was dismissed by the Supreme Administrative Court in November, ruling that the procedure for selecting a contractor was lawful and complied with Bulgarian legislation.
The IGB pipeline will receive its gas from the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) as well as the National Natural Gas Transmission System (DESFA) in Greece, with the goal of strengthening the security of both Bulgaria’s and south-east Europe’s gas supply. A Memorandum of Co-operation between ICGB AD (the joint venture company implementing the IGB project) and TAP AG has been signed in preparation for the future connection between IGB and TAP.
Whilst TAP does not expect commercial gas deliveries to Europe to begin until October 2020, testing has already begun on some sections of the pipeline. On 25 November 2019, natural gas was introduced into a 2 km pipeline section in Greece, as part of the pipeline commissioning process to ensure the pipeline is safe and operationally ready. The next few months will see gas introduced gradually into additional sections of the pipeline in Greece, Albania and Italy.
It is also full steam ahead for TurkStream, where the commissioning process is in its final stage and operation is expected before the end of the year. Both strings of the gas pipeline are currently filled with gas, from the onshore facilities near Anapa, Russia to the receiving terminal near Kiyiköy, Turkey. Although Bulgaria, a country currently dependent on Russian gas, strives for gas independency through the construction of the IGB pipeline, Russia retains its foothold on European markets with its TurkStream, Blue Stream, and Nord Stream projects.
President Donald Trump has made it clear that he would like Europe to purchase more energy from the US rather than Russia, which has been further emphasised in his recent meeting with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov. The meeting established the shared understanding that energy security is national security, and how the countries plan to “co-operate on increasing the supply of gas from diverse and reliable sources and diversifying the nuclear energy sector.”1 With the US backing Bulgaria, perhaps the country’s reliance on Russian exports won’t continue much longer.
Looking at a map of Europe and the completed and in-progress pipelines, the interconnected transportation routes weave a web of reliance – IGB needs TAP, TANAP needs TAP, Nord Stream needs OPAL, etc. Projects cross borders and contracts are put out to tender to a global audience of contractors and suppliers.
As we leave behind a decade that saw times of austerity, the Arab Spring, Brexit, natural disasters, as well as Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee, 100 years since the First World War, and plenty of international sporting events, the next decade already looks bright, in particular for the pipeline industry which will see projects wrapped up as well as new pipes put in the ground.
- Joint statement by President of the US Donald Trump and Prime Minister Boyko Borissov of Bulgaria, 25 November 2019.
