Azerbaijan, Baku, Aug.9 / Trend, A. Badalova /
Consortium on White Stream pipeline project plans to hold offshore route survey and Environmental Impact Assessment studies (EIA), British White Stream Pipeline Consortium Chairman Roberto Pirani told Trend via e-mail.
"The White Stream project is proceeding according to plan and we are currently planning an offshore Route Survey for next year and also Environmental Impact Assessment studies in order to comply with the requirements for the Black Sea crossing - a major element in making the project "Bankable", Pirani said.
Implementation of the "White Stream" project, part of the Southern Corridor, consists of several phases, the first of which includes the construction of an underwater pipeline from Georgia to Romania, to be laid on the Black Sea.
The project envisages the transportation of the Azerbaijani gas supplies across the Black Sea from the Georgian port of Supsa to the Romanian port of Constanta and later to other EU countries.
The initial capacity of "White Stream" pipeline will hit 8 billion cubic meters per year, which will be increased up to 16 and then up to 32 billion.
Initial amounts of gas for the "White Stream" project are expected from Azerbaijan. As capacity of the pipeline will increase upon time, other gas sources can be used.
"We are planning to construct a new onshore pipeline from Sangachal to the Georgian Black Sea shore, predominantly along the SCP route, to feed the offshore section or, if SCP will be sufficiently expanded to match both White Stream and Nabucco needs, White Stream may initially source gas from SCP," Pirani said.
According to him, the White Stream pipeline will be a major infrastructure which will allow gas producers in the Caspian region to ship their gas to Europe at an agreed tariff.
In addition to the White Stream, the Southern Corridor also includes Nabucco, ITGI (Turkey-Greece-Italy) and Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP). Southern Corridor is one of the priorities for EU energy projects, which aims to diversify routes and sources of supply, and thus increase the energy security of European countries.