By Chryssa Liagou
The energy interconnection between Greece and Turkey is now complete and will become another entry gate for natural gas into this country, as Development Minister Dimitris Sioufas said yesterday that the first quantities will be transmitted through the new pipeline in 15 days.
The essential tests have been completed and the pipeline is ready to begin operation, Sioufas added.
The interconnection includes a 285-kilometer pipeline linking Karacabey in Turkey with Komotini in northeastern Greece, with a capacity of 3.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas and the possibility of extension to 11 billion cm. The total cost of the project is estimated at –250 million, –118 million of which are covered by Greece and the rest by Turkey. The Greek section of the pipeline was 29 percent funded by the European Union.
The two pipelines (Turkey-Greece and Greece-Italy, yet to be begun) will complete the so-called horizontal axis for the natural gas supply of Europe from the reserves of the Caspian Sea.
Sioufas also noted that the new natural gas pipeline and the interconnection of the electricity systems of Greece and Turkey are the two most important interstate projects between the two neighboring countries.
(Kathimerini 05/09/07)