BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 29
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
Until the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) starts up, Spanish Enagas, one of the project shareholders will continue as planned to make capital contributions to TAP amounting to 9 million euros, Trend reports with reference to the company.
“The degree of progress of the project is currently 96.4 percent and is in line with plans. TAP continues to operate normally on all work fronts. The contingency plans deployed during the coronavirus crisis in Europe have mitigated impacts on the progress of the project and the planned date of commercial operation is maintained as within Q4 2020,” Enagas said in its report.
The last constructive element of great significance in the project, the 105 kilometers of the subsea section of the gas pipeline, in waters of the Adriatic Sea, was completed in early June, including the pipeline laying work as well as the pressure tests to ensure its integrity, the report says.
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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