With the current global energy crisis and ever-growing fuel prices, the demand for natural gas in Europe has grown substantially, and Bulgaria and the Balkan region are not an exception.
As a registered participant at the Regional Booking Platform (RBP) and the Commercial Dispatching Platform (CDP) of Bulgartransgaz, as well as a full-fledged member of the Balkan Gas Hub natural gas trading exchange TIBIEL has played a key role in natural gas distribution in the country and the region.
Bulgaria’s annual gas consumption amounts to roughly about 3 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas, a third of which is used in heating utilities.
As of 2020 TIBIEL has been the main natural gas supplier for its nation’s heating ulitities Toplofikatsia Pleven AD, Toplofikatsia Vratsa AD, Toplofikatsia Pernik AD and Toplofikatskia Burgas EAD, as well as Toplofikatsia Ruse and the Ruse Chemicals company.
In addition, with its cooperation with countries in the region, such as Turkey, Greece, and Romania, TIBIEL is contributing to increasing the energy security in the EU, boosting domestic and global markets of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Compared to other gas markets, the country’s percentage of domestic gas supply is still lower, although it is steadily rising. The Republic of Bulgaria’s Energy Strategy prioritizes encouraging gasification by extending the gas transmission network to new areas and granting access to natural gas to new towns, distribution firms, and non-residential consumers.
“Bulgaria boasts a strategic geographic location, a well-developed gas infrastructure, and with the implementation of the planned new projects the country has the potential to become a regional gas distribution hub providing diversification of the sources and routes of natural gas supply for the region,” TIBIEL explains.
As part of its efforts for expansion, TIBIEL is set to take place at this year’s Gastech Exhibition & Conference.