ECONOMY
Head of communications: TAP project 88.5% complete
Baku, July 23, AZERTAC
“In terms of overall project progress, we are more than 88.5% complete – including all engineering, procurement and construction scope (as of the end of June 2019). As of end of June, between Greece, Albania and Italy, 99% pipes are already in the ground (back-filled). Reinstatement along the route is over 95% complete,” said head of Communications at TAP Lisa Givert in an exclusive interview with AZERTAC.
“Works for the completion of the Italian section of the pipeline and the pipeline receiving terminal (PRT) are ongoing, with 32% of the PRT completed and 3km of pipe (out of approximately 8km) already in the ground,” Givert said.
“In Italy, the 1.5km micro-tunnel in Melendugno has been completed at the end of April without any impact or interference with the tourist activities and the environment along the coast,” Lisa Givert added.
TAP’s first offshore pipelines (7km) in Albania were successfully installed and backfilled in May. This is part of the 105 km section across the Adriatic Sea that will link the gas pipeline to Italy’s transmission network.
The pipes will be laid on the Adriatic seabed: 37 km in Albanian territorial waters, 25 km in Italian territorial waters; and 43 km in international waters.
The 878km long pipeline will connect with the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) at the Turkish-Greek border at Kipoi, cross northern Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in Southern Italy, where it will connect to Italy’s gas transportation grid operated by SNAM Rete Gas.
The Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) will transport Caspian natural gas from the Shah Deniz 2 field to Europe.
TAP is the European section of the Southern Gas Corridor, enhancing Europe’s energy security and contributing to decarbonisation and the diversification of gas supplies.
TAP’s shareholding is comprised of BP (20%), SOCAR (20%), Snam (20%), Fluxys (19%), Enagás (16%) and Axpo (5%).