Interconnector Turkey-Greece-Italy (ITGI)

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Interconnector Turkey-Greece-Italy (ITGI) is an operating natural gas pipeline.[1]

Location

The pipeline runs from Karacabey, Turkey to Komotini, Greece.

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Project Details

  • Operator: IGI Poseidon SA
  • Parent Company: DEPA, Edison S.p.A.
  • Current capacity: 11 billion cubic meters per year
  • Length: 184 miles / 296 kilometers
  • Status: Operating
  • Start Year: 2007

Background

The Interconnector Turkey–Greece–Italy (ITGI) is a natural gas transportation project proposed in the framework of the Southern Gas Corridor. It was proposed for the transportation of natural gas from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz gas field Phase II to markets in Europe via Greece and Italy. The Turkey–Greece pipeline was completed in 2007 while the future of the Greece–Italy pipeline project is unclear due to the competing Trans Adriatic Pipeline.

The agreement between Turkish gas company BOTAŞ and Greek gas company DEPA was signed on 28 March 2002. The intergovernmental agreement to build a natural gas pipeline between the two countries was signed on 23 December 2003 in Ankara. The foundation of pipeline was laid on 3 July 2005 by the prime ministers Kostas Karamanlis and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. It was completed in September 2007.[2][3] The pipeline was officially inaugurated on 18 November 2007.[4]

Technical description

The Turkish section is 210 km (130 mi), of which 17 km (11 mi) are under the Sea of Marmara. The Greek section is 86 km (53 mi). The diameter of the pipeline is 910 mm (36 in) and the capacity is 7 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year.[5]

Greece–Italy pipeline

The Greece–Italy pipeline (Poseidon pipeline) is a proposed natural gas pipeline between Greece and Italy. It was developed by IGI Poseidon SA, a joint venture between DEPA and Italian Edison S.p.A..[6]

History

The feasibility study for the Greece–Italy pipeline was conducted in 2003. The study was funded by the European Commission.[7]

The memorandum of understanding for the construction of the pipeline was signed between DEPA and Edison on 28 April 2005. It was followed by an intergovernmental agreement signed on 4 November 2005 in Rome by Italian Minister for Productive Activities Claudio Scajola and Greek Development Minister Dimitris Sioufas. Also the Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Hilmi Güler was present at the ceremony. On 31 January 2007, Italy's Minister of Economic Development Pier Luigi Bersani, and Greek minister Dimitris Sioufas granted exclusive usage rights of the pipeline to Edison S.p.A. and DEPA for 25 years.[8] This was approved by the European Commission in May 2007.[9] On 26 July 2007, an additional protocol on construction was signed in Rome. On 11 June 2008, the project company for the offshore section IGI Poseidon SA was incorporated in Italy with 50% stakes held by DEPA and Edison.[6]

In February 2011, the engineering consultancy Penspen was awarded the basic engineering design contract for the onshore section of the pipeline from Komotini to Igoumenitsa, Thesprotia.[10][11] In September 2011, the technical feasibility was confirmed by a marine survey completed by Fugro GeoConsulting.

Technical description

The length of the Greece–Italy pipeline would be 807 km (501 mi), of which 590 km (370 mi) would be onshore pipeline in Greece and 217 km (135 mi) would be laid on the seabed of Ionian Sea. The pipeline would be connected to the Turkey–Greece pipeline outside Komotini and would run to Igoumenitsa, Thesprotia. The offshore section would be built between Igoumenitsa and Otranto in Apulia region.[12] The offshore section would cost €500 million and the Greek section would cost €600 million.

The capacity of pipeline would be 8 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year.[6] 80% of the transmission capacity would be reserved for Edison SpA, while 20% would be reserved for DEPA.[9]

Greece-Bulgaria pipeline

14 July 2009, Bulgarian Energy Holding signed an agreement with DEPA and Edison S.p.A. for setting up a company to construct and operate the branch pipeline Gas Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria with a capacity of one billion cubic meters of gas per year.[5] The pipeline will be 160 km (199 mi) between Komotini and Stara Zagora in Bulgaria.[5] In February 2018 ICGB, the company contracted to build the pipeline, announced that it hoped to begin construction by June 2018.[13]

Articles and resources

References

  1. ↑ Interconnector Turkey-Greece-Italy, Wikipedia, accessed April 2018
  2. ↑ "Start-up delay for Turkey-Greece pipe", NHST Media Group (2007-07-31). Retrieved on 2007-08-01. 
  3. ↑ "Turkish-Greek pipeline now complete", Alexander's Gas & Oil Connections (2007-09-06). Retrieved on 2007-09-29. 
  4. ↑ Eric Watkins (2007-11-20). "Greece-Turkey gas pipeline link inaugurated", Oil & Gas Journal. Retrieved on 2007-11-24. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Bulgaria, Greece agree to link pipelines for delivery of Azerbaijan gas" (2009-07-15). Retrieved on 2010-10-23. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "Edison, Depa Set Up Company for Italy-Greece Gas Pipeline", Downstream Today (2008-06-11). Retrieved on 2008-06-12. 
  7. ↑ "EU approves grant for study on Greece, Italy natgas link", Europe Intelligence Wire, Financial Times (2003-08-05). Retrieved on 2009-07-20. 
  8. ↑ George Hatzidakis (2007-01-31). "Greece-Italy pipeline to ease Russia gas reliance", Reuters. Retrieved on 2009-07-20. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "EU conditionally approves new Greece-Italy gas pipeline", Forbes (2007-05-22). Retrieved on 2009-07-20. 
  10. ↑ "Penspen Lands FEED for Greece-Italy Natural Gas Interconnector", OilVoice (2011-02-14). Retrieved on 2011-04-04. 
  11. ↑ Badalova, A. (2011-02-16). "Greece awards Penspen FEED for IGI". Retrieved on 2011-04-04. 
  12. ↑ "PM briefed on Greece-Italy underwater natural gas pipeline", Athens News Agency (2007-07-25). Retrieved on 2009-07-20. 
  13. ↑ Appeals Threaten to Delay Greek-Bulgarian Pipeline, Balkan Insight, Feb. 7, 2018

Related SourceWatch articles

External resources

External articles

Wikipedia also has an article on Interconnector Turkey-Greece-Italy (Interconnector Turkey-Greece-Italy). This article may use content from the Wikipedia article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License].

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