BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 17
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
The Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) may increase the volume of gas transportation by 1.5 billion cubic meters per year fairly quickly, provided there are additional volumes from Azerbaijan, said Italian Minister of Ecological Transition Roberto Cingolani, Trend reports with reference to Italian media.
Cingolani believes that TAP could thereby increase gas transportation to Italy from the current 7 billion cubic meters to 8.5 billion cubic meters.
As for increasing TAP’s capacity by 10 billion cubic meters, the minister said it would take about 45 months to raise it by 2 billion cubic meters through interventions in Albania and then around 65 months to boost it further by 8 billion cubic meters.
Obviously, a prerequisite is a long-term gas supply agreement with the Azerbaijani government, he explained.
As the European section of the Southern Gas Corridor, TAP has the capacity to transport approximately 10 billion cubic meters of gas per annum (bcm/a) to several markets in Europe. The pipeline is also designed with the potential to expand its throughput capacity up to 20 bcm/a.
As a key part of the Southern Gas Corridor, TAP is strategically and economically important to Europe and essential in providing reliable access to a new source of natural gas. TAP plays a significant role in boosting Europe’s energy security, supply diversification, as well as decarbonisation objectives.
TAP’s shareholding is comprised of bp (20 percent), SOCAR (20 percent), Snam (20 percent), Fluxys (19 percent), Enagás (16 percent) and Axpo (5 percent).
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