Baku, Azerbaijan, July 26
By Elena Kosolapova - Trend:
The route of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) in Italy remains unchanged, official spokesman of Italian Snam company, which holds 20 percent in the project, told Trend on July 26.
Meanwhile he said that some minor adjustments were carried out to the Italian interconnection pipeline from Melendugno to Mesagne, directly managed by Snam, which will bring gas from TAP to the national gas distribution network of Italy.
“No change occurred at all in the pipeline interconnecting TAP to the existing Snam network, which remains the same in length and route. Upon indication of the competent bodies (Italy’s Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Activities and Tourism), some minor adjustments were carried out on the construction methodology only, and namely the switch from open trench to trenchless technology in order to safeguard the protected areas”, the source said.
TAP is a part of the Southern Gas Corridor, which is one of the priority energy projects for the European Union. The project envisages transportation of gas from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz Stage 2 to the EU countries.
The pipeline will connect to the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) on the Turkish-Greek border, run through Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in Italy’s south.
TAP will be 878 kilometers in length (Greece 550 kilometers, Albania 215 kilometers, Adriatic Sea 105 kilometers, and Italy 8 kilometers).
TAP’s shareholding is comprised of BP (20 percent), SOCAR (20 percent), Snam S.p.A. (20 percent), Fluxys (19 percent), Enagás (16 percent) and Axpo (5 percent).