TAP: Around 94% of pipes in Greece, Albania welded

By  Trend

Around 94 percent of pipes have been welded in Greece and Albania as part of construction of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), which envisages transportation of Azerbaijani gas to Europe, TAP AG consortium said in a message.

“About 94 percent of pipes in Greece and Albania (726km out of 765km) are now welded. All the welds are subject to automatic testing to ensure they meet national and international standards,” said the consortium.

TAP project, worth 4.5 billion euros, is one of the priority energy projects for the European Union (EU), and has already attracted 1.5 billion euros from the European Investment Bank (EIB), which approved the loan in early February 2018.

Connecting with the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas 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), Enagas (16 percent) and Axpo (5 percent).