Albania cancels tender for construction of gas pipeline to link Vlora TPP to TAP
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb.18
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
Albanian ministry of infrastructure and energy has cancelled the tender for reviving the Vlora thermal power plant (TPP) and construction of a gas pipeline between Vlora and Fier to link the plant to the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), Trend reports citing Albanian media.
Reportedly, the ministry said none of the submitted bids met the criteria in the tender.
Albanian government intends to put into operation the Vlora TPP by feeding it with gas from TAP.
The construction of Vlora TPP was completed in 2011 and was never put into operation due to technical problems. The TPP was built with financing from the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Investment Bank.
The Trans Adriatic Pipeline is 92 percent complete as of late January 2020. It is expected to be put into operation in October 2020.
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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