The two national gas transmission operators signed a memorandum of understanding Monday expressing their consent to cooperate with other TSOs from the Czech Republic, Ukraine, Hungary and Bulgaria in order to appraise possibilities for the development the Eastring project on the territories of Romania and Slovakia.
“The relationship between Transgaz and Eustream will facilitate exchanges of technological experience in fields such as design and research, gas transmission system operation and development, gas dispatching, pipeline maintenance, SCADA implementation and upgrading, implementation of the EU energy regulations,” said Transgaz general manager Ion Sterian.
The Eastring pipeline, a proposed alternative to South Stream, is a joint project for Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary with a planned capacity of around 20-40 billion cubic meters of gas per year.
According to the European Commission, the advantage of the Eastring pipeline project lies in its ability to bring added value comparable to competitive projects like Nabucco and/or South Stream for significantly lower costs. Capital expenditures of the project are initially estimated at some EUR2 billion in its first stage.
A feasibility study for the project is expected to be completed in June 2018.