Bulgaria to receive liquefied gas through Greece
Bulgaria will be able to receive natural gas through the terminals in Greece. In Athens the manager of the Bulgarian Energy Holding signed an agreement for starting the research work on construction of a terminal for liquefied natural gas on the Aegean Sea shore. The project will be a part of the gas connections between Bulgaria and Greece. Gas to the new terminal will be delivered initially from Qatar and Algeria. Here is what recently dismissed Minister of Economy Traicho Traikov said.
“This terminal will be a regional project for the countries in Southeastern Europe. Romania, Serbia, and Macedonia are expected to join the project too,” Mr. Traikov says. “Gas deliveries will initially come from Qatar and Algeria, before deliveries from Cyprus and Israel start in the future. All this helps the process of diversification. Last month new gas deposits were discovered near the Romanian Black Sea shore. Bulgaria is also to start looking for gas deposits in the Black Sea. Big companies have already showed interest in thesphere,” the minister added.
According to Traicho Traikov the most important energy projects for Bulgaria are the gas connections with Greece, Romania, and Turkey.
“We have already launched a number of projects in the sphere of energy and many of them will be finished during the term of office of the current government. A lot of work has been done on the projects for gas connections with Greece and Romania. Such connections are international projects and they are very complicated but we have marked a considerable progress. The two projects are in their final stage. Construction of the Romanian connections will start in May while the work on the Greek connection would start by the end of the year.”
Bulgaria must carefully consider its strategy for development in the sphere of energy, Mr. Traikov pointed out. Conventional energy sources are becoming more expensive, while the price of energy from renewable energy sources is decreasing. Balance in the future will be crucial. At the same time nuclear power plants are becoming more expensive and that is why diversification of sources of natural gas is of great significance.
Text and photo: http://bnr.bg/sites
(22.03.2012)