January 27 (BTA) - A project to expand the underground natural gas storage facility at Chiren, Northwestern Bulgaria will be financed with a 78 million euro grant from the EU. It is one of five approved energy projects and the only one concerning natural gas, about which the European Commission has announced that the EU member states have agreed to finance under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), Bulgartransgaz EAD reported on Thursday.

The other four projects are the EuroAsia interconnector (657 million euro) to support the first electricity interconnection between Cyprus and the European grid; Baltic Synchronisation Project Phase II (170 million euro); Aurora line (127 million euro); and Northern Lights Phase II (4 million euro).

The European Commission noted that the planned capacity increase of the Chiren gas storage facility in Bulgaria is necessary for the regional security of supply in Southeastern Europe and for reducing gas supply costs. It also supports the phase-out of coal in the region, facilitating the clean energy transition.

CEF funding is only available for projects designated by the European Commission to be of common interest (PCIs). The Chiren expansion has been included invariably on all PCI lists since 2017.

The Chiren project stipulates that the amount of active gas in the storage facility will be increased to 1 billion cubic metres, and the daily injection and extraction capacity will be enlarged to 8-10 million cubic metres, Bulgartransgaz said. The expansion of the capacity of the storage facility will promote trade in natural gas and will enhance market integration in Southeastern Europe by boosting competition and raising the liquidity of the region's gas markets.

Bulgartransgaz Executive Director Vladimir Malinov said the availability of a sufficient gas storage capacity in the region is of key importance for alternative gas suppliers, particularly LNG suppliers, because it allows flexible supply management.

Malinov pointed to a synergy between the Chiren expansion and the construction of an LNG terminal at Alexandroupolis, Northern Greece, in which Bulgartransgaz holds 20 per cent of the equity capital, as well as other Bulgartransgaz projects for improving connectivity with the gas networks of neighbouring countries. LN/VE

Source: Sofia