TODAY.AZ / Business

Energy Ministry: TAP’s Albanian section is 90% complete

19 March 2019 [10:00] - TODAY.AZ

By Azernews


By Mirsaid Ibrahimzade

More than 90 percent of construction work has been completed on the Albanian section of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), which envisages transportation of Azerbaijani gas to Europe, Albanian Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy told Trend.

Albania estimates that the overall progress in TAP’s implementation in the country has been in line with the forecast, according to the ministry.

"Since September 2016, when the TAP project has gone to the pipeline construction phase in its onshore section, by the end of 2018, over 90 percent of the pipeline construction has been completed on this section," said Albanian energy ministry.

The work on TAP’s offshore section on Albanian territory started in October 2018, said the ministry.

Albanian energy ministry said that during 2019 it is expected that the construction of TAP will be completed.

Moreover, TAP progress in 2019 will include issuing the relevant permits for the certification of the respective sections of the TAP project in the Albanian territory, the relevant approvals from the ERE for the licensing of TAP AG as a gas transmission operator, according to the ministry.

Generally, 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.

The pipeline would be supplied by natural gas from the second stage of the Shah Deniz (Azerbaijan) gas field development in the Azerbaijani section of Caspian Sea through the South Caucasus Pipeline and the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP). Since it will enhance energy security and diversify gas supplies for several European markets, the TAP project is supported by the European institutions and seen as a "Project of Common Interest" and a part of the Southern Gas Corridor.

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.

In June 2013, the project was chosen as a route for gas from Shah Deniz II over the competing Nabucco West project. Later in 2013, BP, SOCAR, Total, and Fluxys became shareholders of the project.

Trans Adriatic Pipeline AG is a joint venture company registered in Baar, canton Zug, Switzerland, with a purpose of planning, developing and building the TAP pipeline. The Managing Director of the company is Luca Schieppati.

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).

URL: http://www.today.az/news/business/180497.html

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