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Italian company to begin construction of TAP underwater section in 2018

24 April 2017 17:33 (UTC+04:00)
Italian company to begin construction of TAP underwater section in 2018

By Sara Israfilbayova

Italy’s Saipem SpA plans to launch construction of the underwater section of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline in 2018.

TAP awarded to Saipem SpA the contract for Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Installation for the offshore section of the project in 2016.

The Italian contractor told Natural Gas World that at this stage the company is not involved in the project realization.

“Saipem’s activities will begin when the micro tunnel area will be available and we are interested in making the area available to organize the micro tunnel operations. We are following this project with great care and the laying of the first stone is scheduled in 2018,” the company said.

The activities envisaged by the contract include marine surveys, the installation of a 36” 105 km offshore gas pipeline, the supply and installation of an offshore fiber optic cable, pre-commissioning activities and civil works at the landfalls in both Albania and Italy. The landfall in Italy will be located at San Foca in Puglia and will be carried out using micro-tunnelling technology.

Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) is a pipeline project to transport Caspian natural gas to Europe. The project is currently in its construction phase, which started in 2016.

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.

TAP will offer a direct and cost-effective transportation route opening up the vital Southern Gas Corridor, a 3500-kilometer long gas value chain stretching from the Caspian Sea to Europe.

878 kilometers in length, TAP's highest elevation will be 1,800 meters in the mountains of Albania while its lowest depth offshore will be 820 meters beneath the Adriatic Sea. The pipeline's design has been developed in accordance with recognized international safety standards.

The initial capacity of TAP will be 10 billion cubic meters per year with the possibility of doubling it.

The construction of TANAP is expected to be completed in 2018, and TAP - by 2020. The goal is to deliver first new gas from Azerbaijan to the markets next year, and complete this project by 2020.

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