Bulgaria has started construction on part of the Bulgaria-Serbia Interconnection, a gas pipeline project linking Bulgaria and Serbia. IBS is recognized as an EU project of common interest and a priority project of the High-Level Group on Energy Connectivity in Central and South-Eastern Europe.

The total length of the gas transmission pipeline is 170 kilometers, 62 kilometers in Bulgaria and 108 kilometers in Serbia. The planned gas transmission capacity is 1.8 billion cubic meters per year, and it has countercurrent capability. The EU co-financed EUR 27.6 million for the Bulgarian part of the pipeline under the Connecting European Facilities energy program and received EUR 6 million from structural funds. The Serbian part of the pipeline is supported by an EU grant of €49.6 million from the European Commission through the Pre-Accession Instrument scheme.

EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson said in a video that the start of work on the IBS marks another important milestone on the region's path towards diversification of energy sources and routes. It is now critical that the government and operators work closely together to ensure the pipeline is ready and operational by the second half of 2023.

Previously, Serbia only received gas from Russia via the TurkStream gas pipeline. After the Ukraine war broke out, Russia cut off gas supplies to Europe. The new pipeline will enable Serbia to access non-Russian gas from the Southern Gas Corridor and LNG terminals in Greece and Turkey.

It will diversify the routes connecting Bulgaria and the European gas network. Since Bulgaria was interrupted by Russian gas imports in April 2022, it has been delivering 1bcm of gas per year via its new interconnection with Greece. The groundbreaking ceremony for the Bulgarian part of IBS took place in the village of Golyanovtsi, Kostinbrod municipality, Sofia district, Bulgaria. The ceremony was attended by representatives of the European Commission and Europe's climate, infrastructure and environment executive agency.Editor/XingWentao