ECONOMY
"TAP project is now on schedule for early 2020 start up"
Baku, February 9, AZERTAC
The TransAdriatic Pipeline (TAP) project is now on schedule for early 2020 start up, according to its president Walter Peeraer, in an interview with National Gas World that covered capacity expansion and its operating regime.
"We are committed to expand the pipeline by building compressors. This will be an open process, subject to the joint approval of the three countries' energy regulators.
Further, TAP CEO said this pipeline will displace a lot of coal and help Europe to decarbonize.
TAP, worth 4.5 billion euros, is a part of the Southern Gas Corridor, which is one of the priority energy projects for the European Union. The project envisages transportation of gas from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz Stage 2 to the EU countries.
The pipeline will connect to the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) on the Turkish-Greek border, run through Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in Italy's south.
TAP will be 878 kilometers in length (Greece 550 kilometers, Albania 215 kilometers, Adriatic Sea 105 kilometers, and Italy 8 kilometers).
TAP's shareholding is comprised of BP (20 percent), SOCAR (20 percent), Snam S.p.A. (20 percent), Fluxys (19 percent), Enagás (16 percent) and Axpo (5 percent).