01.06.2020
Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić inspected the construction of Balkan Stream by helicopter. The project is a priority for the Bulgarian government. Its implementation aims to increase the security of natural gas supplies from various sources and competition and transparency of the natural gas market, which in turn will have a positive effect on natural gas consumers. As a key project for market integration, Balkan Stream will contribute to ensuring the supply of natural gas to the country and the region, while also contributing to the creation of real conditions for diversification of sources and routes and the possibility of transporting additional quantities of natural gas to and through Bulgaria. "Everything is according to the regulations of the European Union," said Prime Minister Borissov during the inspection.
Bulgartransgaz EAD is building a gas pipeline with a total length of 474 km. A total of 26,489 pipes or 324.26 km were delivered to the temporary construction bases. Another 10,935 pipes or 133.52 km have been delivered to the port of Bourgas, which are transported daily to the temporary bases. The total cleaned humus from the easement of the gas pipeline is 403.19 km. The pipes carried along the route are 281.22 km, of which 153.06 km are welded. The excavated trench for laying the gas pipeline is 100.44 km. The laid gas pipeline in the trench is 91.43 km. The territories with archeological sites along the route are being studied and vacated for construction, in order to preserve the cultural heritage of our country during the construction of Balkan Stream.
For the overall implementation of the project for expansion of the gas transmission infrastructure from the Bulgarian-Turkish to the Bulgarian-Serbian border, two compressor stations will be built - CS "Rasovo" and CS "Nova Provadia". The planned compressor units at both stations will be from the latest generation, manufactured by a leading American company. Currently, construction and installation works are being performed on the future site of the Rasovo Compressor Station. In addition to three gas turbocharger units, an administrative building, production and service buildings will be located on the site.
The underground gas storage Chiren was also inspected. It is used to compensate for the seasonal unevenness of natural gas consumption in our country and is one of the tools for ensuring the security of gas supply, with an active capacity of 550 million m3. The development of the gas network on the territory of the country and in the region will encourage trade in natural gas, will increase market competition and will contribute to the functioning of the liquid gas market. In order to develop Chiren as a commercial repository, we are working on its expansion. The planned expansion consists of a gradual increase in the volume of the storage - larger volumes of stored gas, increased fuel pressure in the tank, greater flow rate of daily injection and extraction.
The project envisages increasing the volume of working gas to 1 billion m3 and increasing the production and injection flow to 8 - 10 million m3 / day. For this purpose, 10 new operational wells will be drilled, as well as 3 observational wells. In 2019, the implementation of 3D seismic research on the area of the Chiren structure began. The studies are co-financed by the Connecting Europe Facility - grants are up to € 3,900,000 (50% of the cost of the study).
