Athens, 19 February 2025 (MIA) – The Terna company has begun preliminary works on the Greek leg of the natural gas interconnector project between Greece and North Macedonia, sources from the Greek company confirmed to MIA's Athens correspondent. 

The sources also confirm reports from Greek energy news portals, as well as Wednesday's EnergyMag article according to which "the "journey" of the new Greece-North Macedonia natural gas pipeline began as Terna started the engines, beginning preliminary works for the Greek leg of the project".  

The company Terna was selected four months ago as the contractor for the Greek leg of the interconnector, undertaking the detailed design, supply of materials and construction of the Nea Mesimvria - Evzoni/Gevgelija high-pressure pipeline.

EnergyMag notes that the project budget was revised by the Greek national gas transmission operator DESFA to EUR 92 million (from EUR 67 million in the previous program), while the operator is also running a tender for construction of a metering station, which is critical for the smooth operation of the pipeline. 

The project, according to Greek media outlets, is expected to be completed by spring 2026 following delays on North Macedonia's part. 

Minister of Energy, Mining and Mineral Resources, Sanja Bozhinovska, in a conversation with MIA two weeks ago, following her participation in the 14th Athens Energy Summit and a meeting with her Greek counterpart, Minister of Environment and Energy Theodoros Skylakakis, said that a previous procedure with the interconnector project has been cancelled in North Macedonia and a new one has been initiated, with the price being 12 million lower than the previous time. 

"As for NOMAGAS, it has carried out all the checks, we have completed everything on our part. We are awaiting approval from the European Investment Bank in order to sign a contract with the operator and begin construction on the interconnector, because it is waiting on us," the Minister said at the time, noting that talks with Skylakakis focused on the interconnector.  

The 123km-long gas interconnection pipeline will extend from Nea Mesimvria to Negotino via Gevgelija and link the two national gas transmission systems, in order to diversify the sources of natural gas supply in North Macedonia. The Macedonian section of the gas pipeline is 67 km long. 

In addition, the project will give the country the opportunity to be supplied with natural gas and LNG through the Greek terminals Revithoussa and Alexandroupolis.  

Its initial capacity will be 1.5 billion cubic meters per year, with the possibility of expanding to 3 billion cubic meters per year, while studies have been carried out for the pipeline to adopt the appropriate requirements for the transport of "green" hydrogen. 

With the construction of the interconnector, due to its geographical location, the country could become a crossroads in the region, given that, as Bozhinovska told MIA, there is already connection with Bulgaria, work is underway on connection with Greece, and last year a memorandum of cooperation was signed with Serbia, she added, noting that "we are working on it, which means that a transit route will pass through our country and not only Serbia, but also Hungary and Austria will be supplied".

Photo: MIA archive