BAKU, Azerbaijan, Nov.1
By Leman Zeynalova - Trend:
The Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) will be ready for gas transportation in October next year, Lisa Givert, TAP Head of Communications, told Trend.
Earlier, head of the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) consortium Saltuk Duzyol told Reuters that gas from Shah Deniz field is not expected to reach Europe before October 2020 due to delays in finishing the TAP pipeline in Italy.
“TAP is on schedule and will be ready to transport gas from shah Deniz II in October 2020,” said Givert.
At the end of September 2019, the TAP project, the final leg of the Southern Gas Corridor, was 89.8 percent completed.
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.
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.
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).
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