BAKU, Azerbaijan, Sept.14
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
In the base case, the S&P Global Platts assumes that 50 percent of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) capacity to become available in November 2020 and the rest from Gas Year 2021, Trend reports citing S&P Global Platts.
“However many uncertainties remain regarding the ramp-up period as shareholders have not provided details about the initial schedule. First volumes might be linked to contractual clauses in the long-term gas supply agreement, which are confidential. Other scenarios are possible for the rate of ramp-up of TAP,” S&P Global Platts said in its report.
In Scenario 1, TAP ramps up at full capacity from November 2020. “In an extreme case, we could see gas flowing at maximum capacity already from November 2020 onwards.”
In Scenario 2, TAP begins only with 25 percent capacity in November 2020 and ramps up to 50 percent in Gas Year 2021 with Algerian contracts being out of the money.
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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