The Minister of Environment and Water Asen Lichev informed by letter the Executive Director of Bulgartransgaz EAD and the mayors of nine settlements in the adjacent territory of the “Chiren” subterranean gas storage facility about the opinion of the MOEW on conducting a joint Environmental Impact Assessment procedure of the project of the company for the expansion of the capacity of the “Chiren” facility.

The Ministry of Environment and Water has received a total of three investment proposals related to the main subject of the assessment, namely the expansion of the capacity of the “Chiren” subterranean gas storage facility.

The contracting authority pointed out that the expansion of the gas storage facility is a key factor for the security of natural gas supplies to Bulgaria and for stimulating gas trade throughout the region, as the project is an integral part of the infrastructure contributing to the concept of a gas distribution hub in the country. Based on research conducted over the years, a decision was made for the gradual expansion of the storage facility, which aims to increase daily productivity to 10 million m³/day (now the maximum is 4.7 million m³/day in a high-intensity work mode).

According to the contracting authority, to achieve the goals of the expansion, work will be aimed in three directions:

- design and construction of new on-ground facilities – a compressor station with the adjacent technical facilities and new gas metering station;

- design and construction of underground facilities - ten new high-flow operational and three observational wells, liquidation of some of the old wells, as well as new connections of the operational wells with the compressor station;

- design and construction of a gas pipeline connecting “Chiren” with the existing gas transmission system in the area of the village of Butan, Municipality of Kozloduy.

According to MOEW instructions, a joint EIA procedure is to be carried out, which in this case constitutes an ongoing general EIA procedure, together with a procedure for approval of an updated safety report and a procedure for issuing a complex permit.

Since 2013, the project  for capacity expansion  of the “Chiren” Gas Storage Facility has been part of the list of projects of common interest to the European Union under Regulation (EU) №347/2013, whereby it has been recognized as necessary for the implementation of the priority corridors of the Union's energy infrastructure. Projects of common interest included in the Union list shall become an integral part of the relevant regional investment plans, as well as of the national ten-year plans for the development of energy networks, and these projects shall be given the highest possible priority within those plans. Under this regulation, the project is included in the Community Ten-Year Network Development Plan (Final TYNDP 2020), in the Gas Regional Investment Plans for Central and Eastern Europe (CEE GRIP 2019), and for the southern corridor region (Southern Corridor GRIP 2018), as well as in the Energy Strategy of the Republic of Bulgaria up until 2030. In confirmation of its importance for the security of energy supply for the country and the region, the project has the status of a priority project for the Three Seas Initiative.