Deal signed for Greece-Bulgaria pipeline

SOFIA, Bulgaria, July 15 (UPI) -- Bulgarian Energy Holding, the Greek DEPA and Italy's Edison S.p.A signed agreements to develop a gas corridor between the Greek and Bulgarian transit networks.

The Greece-Bulgaria gas interconnector will be an extension to the so-called Interconnector Turkey-Greece-Italy project to import roughly 283 billion cubic feet of gas from Caspian suppliers each year.

The project is part of an effort to diversify and secure natural gas supplies to Bulgaria and southeast Europe, Edison said.

The European Union in May reached agreements in the Czech Republic on its Southern Corridor of energy transportation networks that include resource arteries meant to diversify and secure the regional energy sector.

Edison notes the ITGI project was given priority by Europe as one of the only two projects in the Southern Corridor to receive financial support from the European Economic Recovery Plan.

The Greece-Bulgaria interconnector has the capacity to transport roughly 141 billion cubic feet of natural gas from Azerbaijan.

Bulgarian Energy Holding will take about 35 billion cubic feet of natural gas per year from the project in an effort to ease its dependence on Russia.