Eskisehir, Turkey, April 17
By Ilkin Shafiyev – Trend:
The first commercial gas supplies to Europe via the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) will begin in March 2020, Saltuk Duzyol, head of the TANAP Consortium, said at a press conference in Turkey’s Eskisehir city April 17.
He said that Turkey will complete all the work to launch filling of the TAP with Azerbaijani gas by June 2019.
"Although, the TAP itself will not be ready for this date, we, on our part, want to perform the entire work beforehand," he added.
TAP project, worth 4.5 billion euros, is one of the priority energy projects for the European Union (EU). The project envisages transportation of gas from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz Stage 2 to the EU countries.
Connecting with the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) at the Greek-Turkish border, TAP will cross Northern Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea before coming ashore in Southern Italy to connect to the Italian natural gas network.
Once built, TAP will offer a direct and cost-effective transportation route opening up the vital Southern Gas Corridor, a 3,500-kilometer long gas value chain stretching from the Caspian Sea to Europe.
TAP shareholders include BP (20 percent), SOCAR (20 percent), Snam S.p.A. (20 percent), Fluxys (19 percent), Enagás (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.
The gas will be delivered to Turkey via TANAP in 2018 and after completion of the TAP construction the gas will be delivered to Europe in early 2020.