BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb.23
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
Spanish Enagas, one of the shareholders of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), has invested 218 million euros in the project, Trend reports citing the company.
“The Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), a key infrastructure for European energy diversity and security, in which Enagás has a 16 percent stake and in which it has invested 218 million euros, started up in 2020 after four and a half years of construction. TAP will make a significant contribution to Enagás' solid cash generation in the coming years,” the company said in its latest report.
Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) AG confirmed on Dec. 31 the commencement of gas flows from Azerbaijan. The first gas has reached Greece and Bulgaria, via the Nea Mesimvria interconnection point with DESFA, as well as Italy, via the Melendugno interconnection point with SNAM Rete Gas (SRG).
TAP transports natural gas from the giant Shah Deniz field in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea to Europe. The 878 km long pipeline connects with the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) at the Turkish-Greek border in Kipoi, crosses Greece and Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in Southern Italy.
In 2020, total demand of natural gas in Spain grew by 3.1 percent vs. 2018 to 360 TWh. Despite the impact of COVID-19 and the fact that 2020 was a relatively warm year, this level of demand is the second highest since 2012 and 5% higher than that forecast by the Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC) in its target scenario for last year.
In January 2021, natural gas played a pivotal role in ensuring energy supply during Spain's biggest cold snap in recent years, prompting exponential growth in the demand for residential natural gas of up to 30 percent, and breaking all time highs.
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