Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is interested in various energy sources, including gas from the liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Alexandroupolis in northern Greece, whose construction began on May 3rd.
This was mentioned for Radio Free Europe (RFE) by the entity ministries of energy, as well as in companies that import gas in BiH.
The terminal in Greece should start operating in 2023, and gas will be delivered there mainly from Azerbaijan and the United States (U.S.).
In order for that gas to reach the users in BiH, it is necessary, among other things, to complete the construction of the gas interconnection between Serbia and Bulgaria, which began in February, said the company “Gas Res”, which imports this energy source in BiH entity Republika Srpska (RS).
“In order to use gas from that area, it is necessary to fulfill a number of preconditions. The construction of the Nis-Dimitrovgrad gas pipeline has begun in the length of some 100 and a few kilometers, then it should be connected from Dimitrovgrad to Sofia, that terminal should be built… in the foreseeable future that gas will not be available to RS, “ told Ljubo Glamocic, director of Gas Res.
From “Energoinvest”, a company that supplies gas to other BiH entity, the Federation of BiH (FBiH), pointed out that a new terminal is an important event for the entire region, including BiH.
“After the construction of this terminal, which is planned for the end of 2023 with a capacity of 5.5 billion cubic meters of gas, this may be one of the additional supply options for FBiH in the future. We are in contact with representatives of the European Union (EU) Energy Community on this topic, ” they say in” Energoinvest”.
For now, BiH is completely dependent on imported gas from Russia, which arrives in the country through the so-called Turk stream, and it enters the country only at one point, at the entrance terminal in Sepak near Zvornik, on the border between BiH and Serbia.
Regarding the plan of gas diversification in the Federation of BiH, the Southern Interconnection has long been mentioned, which would connect BiH with the gas pipeline system in the south of Croatia – but also the LNG terminal on the island of Krk, in the north of the Adriatic Sea.
RS is working on the “New Eastern Interconnection”, the gas connection between RS and Serbia, and the representatives of the companies “Srbijagas” and “Gas Res” signed the agreement on gasification on March 16 last year.
In 2022, natural gas from other countries, including the U.S., could replace about 60 billion cubic meters of Russian gas, the European Commission announced earlier, RSE writes.
E.Dz.
