Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec.25
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
The agreement between the Greek gas operator DESFA and the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) consortium includes three phases, Trend learned from DESFA.
“Under the Maintenance Agreement, DESFA undertakes to perform the following Services for the maintenance of the Greek Onshore section of TAP: 1) recruitment and training of the necessary new technical staff (Phase 1 of the Agreement); 2) maintenance and technical support during the pre-commissioning and commissioning phases (Phase 2 of the Agreement), as well as 3) maintenance of TAP pipeline during commercial operation (Phase 3 of the Agreement),” said the Greek gas operator.
DESFA said that according to schedule of the current draft Maintenance Agreement, the main works provided during Phase 3 are the following: 1) Core Services (maintenance services included in the TAP Maintenance Program and executed under the Annual Maintenance Program); 2) Non-Core Services (other services not directly related to the availability, reliability and security of the system but important for staff hygiene and maintenance of building infrastructure); 3) Additional Services (additional, unscheduled maintenance services that may be requested by TAP); 4) Alert Management Services (emergency preparedness and related on-call services); 5) Sub-Contractor Services (special maintenance and inspection services to be executed by a subcontractor).
“It shall be clarified that the obligation that DESFA has undertaken under this Agreement, include only the maintenance of TAP pipeline in Greece and not its operation. The obligations and responsibilities associated with operation will be borne by TAP itself,” said the company.
Phases 1 and 2 of the Maintenance Agreement, as described above, cover the period before the commencement of TAP’s system commercial operation (i.e. up to 01.01.2020), according to DESFA.
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.
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).
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