Baku, Azerbaijan, July 25
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
TAP AG, the consortium for construction of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) and its contractors will soon complete the rehabilitation of the 12.5-kilometer road connecting the Vithkuq village with the national road Korca – Erseka in Albania, said a message from the consortium.
The road is being rehabilitated in the framework of TAP’s rehabilitation of access roads and bridges used for transporting materials for the pipeline construction.
In the Korca region, during the first phase of improving road infrastructure, TAP has reconstructed 9 bridges and improved about 15.5 km of road. In total across Albania during the first phase of access roads and bridges rehabilitation, around 58 km of road have been upgraded, two new bridges have been built and 40 existing bridges have been renovated.
The second phase of rehabilitating access roads, which comprises about 120 km of road, is carried out by AlbStar, a local contractor of TAP’s contractor, Spiecapag. By the end of June 2018, more than 80 percent of the work for the second phase had been completed.
TAP project, worth 4.5 billion euros, is one of the priority energy projects for the European Union (EU), and has already attracted 1.5 billion euros from the European Investment Bank (EIB), which approved the loan in early February 2018.
Connecting with the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas 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.
The project is currently in its construction phase, which started in 2016.
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), Enagas (16 percent) and Axpo (5 percent).
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