Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept.24
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
The Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), which envisages transportation of Azerbaijani gas to Europe, is ready to double its capacity, Trend reports citing TAP managing director Luca Schieppati.
"We have conducted market tests on the possibility of doubling the pipeline’s capacity up to 20 billion cubic meters. Technically there are no problems, only two compressor stations are needed in Greece and Albania, while the pipes will remain the same,” he told Italian media.
Trans Adriatic Pipeline AG (TAP) launched a market test on July 1, 2019 to allow natural gas shippers to express interest, and in a later phase, potentially secure access to new, long-term capacity in TAP, thereby enabling the future expansion of the pipeline capacity.
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.
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), Enagás (16 percent) and Axpo (5 percent).
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