BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan.31
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
The Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) will soon see the start of laying pipes on bottom of Adriatic Sea, Trend reports citing the TAP AG consortium.
Activities are in full swing on board the Castoro Sei pipe-laying barge of Italy’s Saipem company, which is the contractor of the project, said the consortium.
“This offshore "moving assembly line" with up to 340 people on board is welding pipes and will shortly start laying them on the bottom of the Adriatic Sea,” reads a message.
TAP marked the start of construction works for the offshore pipeline section in October 2018.
The first offshore pipes in Albanian waters were laid in March 2019.
TAP’s offshore section, linking the Albanian and the Italian coasts, is 105 km long.
The pipes will be laid on the Adriatic seabed: 37 km in Albanian territorial waters, 25 km in Italian territorial waters; and 43 km in international waters.
The deepest point of the pipeline will be more than 810 metres beneath sea level. Approximately 9,000 pipes, with a 36-inch diameter, will be used, weighing approximately 100,000 tonnes in total.
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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