Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan.30
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
Ionian Adriatic Pipeline (IAP) may have new sources of financing.
“More information about the sources of financing will be known after the IAP Company is established, which should occur in the near future,” Trend learned from the Croatian Plinacro Ltd. natural gas transmission system operator.
Regarding the current status of IAP’s financing, Zarko Djuranovic, Director of Energy and Consulting Department at Montenegro Bonus company told Trend that most of the grants received so far for the project were provided by Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF):
· Feasibility Study, Environmental and Social Impact Assessment Study - 3.5 million euros;
· IAP Preliminary Design for Montenegro and Albania sections - 2.5 million euros;
· Gas Development Master Plan – Priority Project Portfolio Identification in Montenegro - 550,000 euros (this grant was not directly aimed for IAP, but it is closely related as IAP will be the source of natural gas for Montenegro and the development of the whole gas infrastructure depends on it).
IAP is a proposed natural gas pipeline in Southeastern Europe (SEE) that will stretch from Albania through Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, to Split in Croatia. It will be connected with the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP). The capacity of the pipeline will amount to five billion cubic meters of gas per year.
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).
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