IGI poseidon sa and bulgarian energy holding establish the asset company "icgb ead" company to build grece bulgaria pipeline, the balcan spur of itgi

IGI Poseidon Sa, company equally owned by Edison and Depa and responsible for the development and construction of the offshore pipeline between Greece and Italy, and Bulgarian Energy Holding EAD agreed today to establish Natural Gas Interconnector Greece Bulgaria EAD (IGB EAD).

Milan, December 27, 2010. IGI Poseidon Sa, company equally owned by Edison and Depa and responsible for the development and construction of the offshore pipeline between Greece and Italy, and Bulgarian Energy Holding EAD agreed today to establish Natural Gas Interconnector Greece Bulgaria EAD (IGB EAD), the asset company responsible for the development, construction and operation of the new gas pipeline between Greece and Bulgaria (the IGB pipeline) which will be part of the ITGI project connecting Turkey, Greece and Italy).

The establishment of the asset company follows the agreements signed in Sofia on November 30 among Edison, Depa and Bulgarian Energy Holding in a meeting attended by Paolo Romani, Italian industry minister, Traycho Traykov, Bulgarian economy minister, Ioannis Maniatis, Greek deputy minister for the environment.

In a short time, ICGB EAD will start the tender for the detail engineering activities and the start of environmental authorizations process needed in Greece and Bulgaria.

The IGB pipeline is a spur of the ITGI Project (Interconnector Turkey-Greece-Italy), first realization of the Southern Gas Corridor, acknowledged by the EU as “Project of European Interest”.

For its realization, the IGB project is supported by the European Commission with a contribution of 45 million euros under the European Energy Plan of Recovery.

The development of the IGB Project further enhances the regional relevance of the ITGI System, that represents the most advanced and competitive option for swiftly opening the Southern Gas Corridor for the transportation to Europe of Caspian and Middle East gas. The ITGI project will increase supplies security in Southern East Europe (through Greece and Bulgaria) and in other European countries (through Italy).
Background information on the Southern Corridor ITGI (Interconnector Turkey-Greece-Italy)

ITGI pipeline comprises the following sections:
- the national Turkish gas grid which will be upgraded in order to enable the transit of the volumes to Greece and Italy;
- the Interconnection Turkey-Greece (ITG), completed in 2007, with a transport capacity of about 11.5 billion cubic meters of gas a year
- the Interconnection Greece-Italy (IGI), to be built. It will have a transport capacity of about 10 billion cubic meters of gas a year and 800 km long. The pipeline includes two sections: IGI Poseidon (200 km offshore pipeline across the Ionian Sea under development by IGI Poseidon SA, a Joint Venture by Edison and Depa) and IGI Onshore (600 km onshore, under development by Desfa, a company controlled by Depa and owner of the Greek Transmission System)
- the Interconnection Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) which will be 168 km long and will connect Komotini (Greece) to Stara Zagora (Bulgaria).

The ITGI represents a new route of supply for the European energy system, able to enhance security and increase the competition on the EU’s gas market. The EU acknowledged the strategic relevance of the ITGI as a Project of European Interest and included it among the Southern Gas Corridor Projects of the announced European Recovery Plan with a contribution of 100 million Euro of financing. The IGB pipeline was included in the same plan with a financing of 45 million Euro.