Details added (first version posted on 12:31)
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 29
By Azad Hasanli - Trend:
The groundbreaking ceremony for the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) is expected to take place in late May-early June 2016 in Greek city of Thessaloniki, TAP Managing Director Ian Bradshaw said Feb. 29.
He made the remarks during the second Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council Ministerial Meeting.
"We have achieved great progress in Greece. With the help of the Government of Greece the pipes will be delivered by the end of April 2016, and the groundbreaking will start in the middle of the year," said Bradshaw. "In terms of access, Greece has provided necessary conditions for the successful start of the project."
The supply of pipes to Albania is also expected in the late April-early May 2016, he added.
The 878 km TAP pipeline will transport Azerbaijani natural gas from the giant Shah Deniz II field through the last leg of the Southern Gas Corridor, connecting with the Trans Anatolian Pipeline at the Turkish-Greek border at Kipoi and then crossing Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in Southern Italy.
TAP will promote the economic development and job creation along the pipeline route; it will be a major source of foreign direct investment and it is not dependent on grants or subsidies. With first gas sales to Georgia and Turkey targeted for late 2018, first deliveries to Europe will follow approximately in early 2020.
Energy ministers of the Southern Gas Corridor member states and representatives of different structures, as well as the EU Commission Vice-President for Energy Union are participating at the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council Ministerial Meeting in Baku.
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