TAP issues new ITT for ball valves and actuators
By Aynur Jafarova
Trans Adriatic Pipeline AG’s (TAP) has issued its next Invitations to Tender (ITT) for the supply of large diameter ball valves and actuators.
The ITT covers 55 valves at 48” and 36”, class 600 and 900. The requirements and quality of the large diameter ball valves and actuators include significant safety features of a high engineering standard in order to ensure the highest quality of the TAP pipeline in relation to technical quality and safety, TAP said on December 9.
“The ball valves and actuators are a critical part of the pipeline as without these, the pipeline cannot function. They will be installed by the onshore Engineering Pipeline Construction contractor(s) that TAP selects in Greece, Italy and Albania,” Procurement Director at TAP Knut Steinar Kvindesland said.
The Shah Deniz consortium announced the selection of TAP as the main route for transporting its gas to Europe in late June. The initial capacity of TAP will amount to 10 billion cubic meters per annum with the possibility of expanding to 20 billion cubic meters per annum. The TAP's construction project is planned to start in 2015.
The gas which will be produced at the second stage of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field development will be the main source of the Southern Gas Corridor, which envisages the transportation of the Caspian gas to European markets.
The Shah Deniz field, one of the world's largest gas-condensate fields, was discovered in 1999. Its reserves are estimated at 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas. Overall, the field has proven to be a secure and reliable supplier of gas to Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, and Europe.
Azerbaijan agreed to sell over 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year from the second phase of its Shah Deniz development to nine companies in the European Union in September 2013.