BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb.7. Following the closing of the binding bid submission window on 22 January 2023, the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) consortium will now trigger the first level of expansion and allocate 1.2 billion cubic meters (bcm) of incremental capacity per year through long term contracts starting from 2026, Luca Schieppati, TAP managing director, said in an interview with Trend.
“This marks the beginning of TAP’s capacity expansion with the aim to double the flow rate to 20 bcm/y of gas by 2027. As our capacity expansion is a matter of supply and demand, full expansion will be achieved when our market tests confirm binding commitments from shippers for further long-term capacity,” he said.
Luca Schieppati pointed out that TAP will double its capacity in incremental steps.
“The market test started in 2021 with two windows available to operators: the first that ended on January 22 and a second one that we plan to activate in the second half of the year, most probably between September and October. The step just closed does not prevent us from working on the next phase of binding offers and on doubling the capacity. The results recorded up to now confirm the goodness of an open, transparent and non-discriminatory process that is proceeding in stages,” he added.
The Trans Adriatic Pipeline, the European leg of the Southern Gas Corridor, has the initial capacity of 10 billion cubic meters, with the possibility of doubling to 20 billion cubic meters.
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