BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb.21
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
The Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), the final leg of the Southern Gas Corridor project, which envisages transportation of Azerbaijani gas to Europe, will facilitate the continent’s energy transition, Spanish Enagas, one of the TAP shareholders, told Trend.
"Enagas holds 16 percent share In the TAP project. For Enagas, TAP is a very important project, because it is the most important European gas corridor. TAP will contribute to energy security and diversification in Europe. It is a cost effective transportation route from the Caspian Sea to the South-East Europe," said the company.
As Enagas said, TAP is a key project, which will facilitate Europe’s energy transition, helping to replace more carbon-intensive sources of energy, coal for example.
Also, TAP helps to attract foreign investments to the countries through which it passes, said the company.
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).
---
Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn