Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept.13
By Elena Kosolapova - Trend:
The Minister of Environment, Gianluca Galletti, has signed the Decree of environmental compatibility of the project submitted by Trans Adriatic Pipeline AG (TAP) for the Italian section of the pipeline, concluding another major milestone for the project.
The approval comes after extensive engagement with all those involved including regular discussion with local communities, public consultation and close cooperation with those national and regional authorities involved in the process. TAP is committed to responsibly deliver a world-class project in Italy and will continue to work closely and collaboratively with all those involved.
The final EIA report is in full accordance with both Italian and EU legislation and follows the international requirements of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
TAP is a project selected by the consortium, which develops the Azerbaijani Shah Deniz field, as a route of gas transportation to the European markets.
The pipeline is meant to transport gas from the Caspian Sea to Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in southern Italy, and then going to the Western Europe. TAP's total length will be 870 kilometres. The construction of the pipeline is expected to start in 2016. TAP's initial capacity will be 10 billion cubic meters per year, but it can easily be expanded to 20 billion cubic meters per year.
Its shareholding is comprised of BP (20 percent), SOCAR (20 percent), Statoil (20 percent), Fluxys (16 percent), Total (10 percent), E.ON (9 percent) and Axpo (5 percent).