Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb.7
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
The total volume of investments in Albania as part of the implementation of the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project will be 1.5 billion euros, TAP general director in Albania Shkelqim Bozgo told the local media outlets.
He pointed out that this is the second year when the intensiveness of investment flow in Albania reaches its peak.
The volume of investments as part of TAP in Albania will stand at 400 million euros ($430 million) in 2017, according to Bozgo.
TAP is the largest project carried out in the Albania. Bozgo noted that the investment flow will continue at the same pace in 2018.
The pipeline will be tested with gas in 2019, and by 2020 it may be ready to transport gas from the Azerbaijani fields to Europe, he added.
Earlier, the International Standard & Poor's Global Ratings (S&P) said in its report on Albania that as the largest share of TAP will be executed in 2017, the foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow in Albania is expected to exceed 11 percent of the country’s GDP in 2017.
TAP consortium said on its Twitter page on Feb.6 that around 75 percent of pipes needed for pipeline construction in Albania has been delivered.
TAP is a part of the Southern Gas Corridor which is one of the priority energy projects for the EU.
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 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 shareholders are: BP (20 percent), State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (20 percent), Snam (20 percent), Fluxys (19 percent), Enagas (16 percent) and Axpo (5 percent).
TAP will be 878 kilometers in length (Greece 550 km, Albania 215 km, Adriatic Sea 105 km, and Italy 8 km). Its highest point will be 1,800 meters in Albania’s mountains, while its lowest point will be 820 meters beneath the sea.
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