TAP submits ESIA to Greece’s authorities
Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) has submitted its comprehensive Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) to the ministry of energy, environment and climate change of Greece.
A consortium of Azerbaijani Shah Deniz gas condensate field development announced its choice of the TAP project in late June as a gas transportation route to the European markets. Nabucco West was the second pipeline, which competed for the transportation of Azerbaijani gas to Europe.
TAP reported that the objective of the ESIA is to assess and optimise the potential environmental, cultural heritage and socio-economic impacts of the proposed pipeline, and to guide the implementation of mitigating measures to avoid or minimise adverse and enhance positive impacts.
It includes a detailed description of the proposed pipeline route in Greece, permanent and temporary infrastructure created during the construction phase, such as access roads and construction camps, and the operational facilities that will be in place, when construction is completed.
In July 2013 the Ministry for Energy, Environment and Climate Change concluded TAP's ESIA completeness review and authorized to start the official public disclosure process. Following ESIA approval, the Greek authorities will issue the Environmental Terms Approval Decision, necessary for TAP to commence the construction activities, the report said.
TAP is designed to transport gas from the Caspian region via Greece and Albania and across the Adriatic Sea to southern Italy and then to Western Europe. The gas which will be produced in the second phase of Shah Deniz field, is considered as the main source of the project.
The initial capacity of the TAP pipeline will be 10 billion cubic meters per year with the possibility of expanding to 20 billion cubic meters per year.
TAP shareholders are BP (20 percent), SOCAR (20 percent), Statoil (20 percent), Fluxys (16 percent), Total (10 percent), E.ON (9 percent) and Axpo (5 percent).
The construction of TAP is expected to start in 2015.