BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 25
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
Certain key activities are yet to be carried out in the upcoming weeks before the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) consortium fully completes the offshore section, Vugar Veysalov, TAP Head of External Affairs, told Trend.
“TAP confirms that Saipem’s Castoro Sei (semi-submersible pipelay) vessel has successfully finalized the installation of the offshore section of the pipe across the Adriatic Sea. This is an important achievement, however, certain key activities are yet to be carried out in the upcoming weeks before we fully complete the offshore section of the project,” he noted.
The offshore section of the pipeline begins near the Albanian city of Fier and traverses the Adriatic Sea to tie into Italy’s gas transportation network in Southern Italy.
TAP’s route across the Adriatic Sea takes the pipeline approximately 105 km along the seabed from the Albanian to the Italian coast.
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.
The pipes were 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 is more than 810 metres beneath sea level. Approximately 9,000 pipes, with a 36-inch diameter, are 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.
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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