Thessaloniki: ICGB, the operator for the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB), has announced its readiness to deliver American liquified natural gas (LNG) to Southeast Europe and beyond. Teodora Georgieva, the Executive Officer of ICGB, made this revelation while addressing the SEEF2025 in Thessaloniki, as reported by Trend News Agency.
According to Trend News Agency, Georgieva highlighted the strong support and strategic alignment from American partners, emphasizing a shared ambition in energy cooperation. “With the IGB pipeline fully integrated into Greece’s network and directly connected to Alexandroupolis LNG, ICGB is ready to deliver American LNG to Southeast Europe and beyond – Romania, Moldova, Ukraine,” Georgieva stated. She further noted that the Vertical Gas Corridor is now a reality, serving as a backbone of European energy security and a pillar of transatlantic cooperation.
George Satlas, another key figure at the event, underscored the importance of cooperation, noting that the U.S. has re-emerged as a key energy partner. He emphasized the necessity of closer U.S.-EU collaboration to unlock the full potential of this partnership. For ICGB, strengthening cooperation among Transmission System Operators (TSOs) is crucial to presenting regulators with coordinated products across all three routes. Such joint efforts aim to ensure that the Vertical Gas Corridor becomes a core element of lasting energy security and transatlantic partnership in Southeast Europe.
The IGB gas pipeline is strategically connected with the Greek national gas transmission system (DESFA S.A.) and the Trans-Adriatic gas pipeline (TAP AG) in the area of Komotini, Greece, and with the Bulgarian gas transmission system (Bulgartransgaz EAD) in Stara Zagora. The pipeline spans a total length of 182 km and has a diameter of 32 inches, with a design capacity of up to 3 billion cubic meters per year in the direction of Greece to Bulgaria. Depending on market interest and the capabilities of neighboring gas transmission systems, the IGB’s capacity can potentially be increased to 5 billion cubic meters per year.