TAP Managing Director: “Trans Adriatic Pipeline is 2/3 completed”
Baku, February 16, AZERTAC
The Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) is now two thirds completed. This includes all engineering, procurement and construction scope, announced TAP Managing Director Luca Schieppati at the 4th Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) Advisory Council in Baku, Azerbaijan.
The high-level event, organised under the auspices of Ilham Aliyev, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, brought together the Vice President of the European Commission in charge of Energy Union Maros Sefcovic, as well as several Ministers and government officials from TAP’s host countries and beyond. They underlined TAP’s key contribution to diversifying and securing Europe's energy mix and reinforced their commitment to the timely implementation of the project.
Schieppati presented TAP’s achievements and progress as of end-January 2018, as follows:
TAP remains on track to deliver world-class health and safety performance across Greece, Albania and Italy. The TAP teams have collectively worked over 23 million manhours and driven approximately 65 million kilometres without a major incident.
TAP’s contractors have cleared approx. 92% of the project route in Greece and Albania (700km out of 765km). Also, over 67% of welded steel pipes are already laid in the ground (backfilled), while almost 400km (over 51%) are reinstated.
In Italy, works are ongoing in the micro-tunnel area: following the completion of the temporary road and the area preparation, the digging of micro-tunnel pit is currently under way.
All 55,000 pipes have been received in Greece, Albania and Italy.
More than 5,800 people are currently working for the project across TAP’s host countries - over 85% of which are employed locally.
TAP has implemented a wide range of social and environmental investment (SEI) programmes in the communities along its route. In total, TAP will invest over €55 million in SEI in Greece, Albania and Italy.
TAP’s President Walter Peeraer said: “In parallel with construction activities, we are also focusing on commercial and operational readiness, ensuring that TAP will provide the best services and flexibility to its customers.”
“I am pleased to confirm that, nearly two years since construction started, the TAP project remains on schedule. Benefiting from the continued support of all parties involved, we are confident that TAP will be operational in early 2020, bringing much-needed gas supplies to support Europe’s transition to a more secure, diversified and sustainable energy mix,” he added.
TAP is committed to responsibly delivering a world-class project along its entire length in Greece, Albania and Italy. TAP continues to work to complete this strategic project safely, avoiding or minimising impact on the environment and the hosting communities.
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