The energy ministers of Bulgaria and Serbia have agreed to push forward with plans to build the much-delayed gas interconnector between the two countries in a bid to further improve the gas pipeline infrastructure in southeast Europe.
Bulgaria and Serbia -- both heavily dependent on Russian gas imports -- have said they want to be able to diversify their gas supplies in the future.
The European Commission said the deal was signed in Sofia Thursday by Bulgarian energy minister Temenuzhka Petkova and her Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Antic.
"To boost the diversification of energy sources in the Western Balkan region, reduce dependency on one dominant supplier and increase energy security, a joint commitment to implement the gas interconnector between Bulgaria and Serbia has been signed," the EC said.
"This new political impetus to the project showcases the political will of all parties," it said.
The 62 km interconnector will allow for the transfer of up to 1.8 Bcm/year of gas in the direction Bulgaria-Serbia and 0.15 Bcm/year in the reverse direction.
The maximum daily capacity will be 5 million cu m/d.
According to an EC fact sheet on the project, the interconnector is set for commissioning in 2022.
"Once completed, the interconnector will constitute a major contribution to the solidarity in the Energy Union," the EC said.
The EC is contributing notably to the Serbian side of the Bulgaria-Serbia interconnector with a pre-accession grant of Eur49.6 million.
"The EC is actively facilitating progress on this priority project in close contact with both the Bulgarian and the Serbian authorities," it said.
The new gas pipeline will provide a new supply route from Bulgaria not only to Serbia, but also to other parts of the southeast European region.
This will enable access to LNG from Greece, Azeri gas from the Southern Gas Corridor, as well as gas from Black Sea offshore production.
Bulgaria and Serbia signed an MOU on the project in January 2017, aiming to begin the construction of the link by May 2019, though that date is likely now unrealistic to be met.
INFRASTRUCTURE AMBITIONS
Southeast Europe has seen a flurry of activity regarding gas infrastructure improvements in the past two years.
Bulgaria and Romania completed construction of their interconnector at the end of 2016, while south-north gas flows were also achieved from Greece to Bulgaria for the first time earlier that year.
Bulgaria and Greece are also moving forward with plans for a new interconnector that will allow gas from the second phase of Azerbaijan's giant Shah Deniz gas field to split off to supply Bulgaria and other markets via Greece.
Other recent political moves in southeastern Europe have paved the way for gas to flow further in a south-north direction -- which, in theory, would mean Greek-landed LNG could make its way northward through Bulgaria, Romania and Moldova to Ukraine.
However, industry sources have said the cost of flowing the gas such a long way would be prohibitively expensive compared with buying Russian gas.
Bulgaria is also keen to become a regional gas center in southeastern Europe -- bringing in gas from multiple sources, including fields in the Black Sea, Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran and other sources via Greek LNG terminals, including US LNG.
It would then act as a regional distributor in the wider Balkans.
