The last major investment on the Romanian section of Bulgaria-Romania-Hungary-Austria (BRHA) gas pipeline project is Bibesti gas compressor station. Romanian natural gas transmission system operator Transgaz performed the first hot start of Bibesti gas compressor station and the compressor station will be officially commissioned on 15 July.
Last October, Transgaz commissioned two gas compressor station along the BRHA route – Podisor and Jupa. The company said that the Romanian section of BRHA gas pipeline will not be completed by the end of 2019 as it was initially planned, but instead in December 2020. The statement from the company said that with all the efforts made by Transgaz for the realization of the BRHA Phase I project, during the implementation of the project, problems were encountered which, cumulatively, affected the full implementation of the project within the assumed period. The issues are mainly arising from the conduct of the tender procedures, the completion and improvement of the legislative framework, the identification of archaeological sites, meteorological – adverse conditions that have manifested over long periods of time, the extension of negotiations with some land owners/users, and a large number of changes that appeared during the implementation of the works. In June 2018, Transgaz has started the construction of the first phase of BRHA gas pipeline. The first phase of the project will include the construction of Podisor-Recas gas pipeline. The total amount of funds estimated for the first phase is 478.6 million euros. Each of two stations will be equipped with two compressor units (one active and one redundant) and will have the technical capability to enable bidirectional gas flows. Some 40 % of the costs of the project are covered by the European Union, through a grant worth 179 million euros. Initial completion date of the first phase of BRHA gas pipeline was December 2019 and it will enable gas flows from Romania to Hungary and Bulgaria.
