Baku, Azerbaijan, March 31
By Maksim Tsurkov - Trend:
Groundbreaking ceremony for the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), envisaging the transportation of Azerbaijani gas to Europe, will be held in the Greek city of Thessaloniki on May 17, Greek media reported March 31 citing the country's energy minister, Panos Skourletis.
Skourletis said a number of high-ranking officials will take part in the ceremony as TAP is the most important project, adding that it will create a large number of jobs.
TAP project envisages transportation of gas from the Stage 2 of development of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz gas and condensate field to the EU countries.
The 870-kilometer pipeline will be connected to the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) on the Turkish-Greek border, run through Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in Italy's south.
TAP's initial capacity will be 10 billion cubic meters of gas a year, expandable to 20 billion cubic meters. The pipeline's construction is planned to start in mid-2016.
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