BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan.7
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
The consortium for construction of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), which envisages transportation of Azerbaijani gas to Europe, is holding preparations for for laying pipes across Adriatic Sea, Trend reports citing TAP AG consortium.
“The TAP project is more than 90 percent complete. This includes engineering, procurement and construction. Nearly all pipes are in the ground in TAP’s host countries. The compressor and metering stations in Greece and Albania are complete. The pipeline receiving terminal in Italy is over 65 percent complete. The micro-tunnels in Albania and Italy have been finalized with no impact on the environment. The Greek and Albanian sections of the pipeline have been connected. 46 million man-hours worked 128 million kilometers driven without any major accident,” said the consortium.
Reportedly, in the upcoming months, gas will be gradually introduced into the remaining sections of the Greek pipeline and beyond.
“TAP is gearing up for transporting first gas from Shah Deniz 2 in 2020. Natural gas shippers can express interest in transporting additional capacity via TAP. This will enable the future expansion of the pipeline, up to doubling its initial capacity,” said the consortium.
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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