Azernews.Az

By Gunay Camal

Over 70km of the pipeline have been welded in Albania so far within the construction of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline, said Lisa Givert, TAP Head of Communications.

“Approximately 98 km have been cleared and graded along our route, 84 km line pipes strung, 71 km welded and approximately 50 km back-filled,” she told Azertac.

“This means that between Greece and Albania, TAP has now cleared and graded over 45 percent of its corridor (approximately 358km out of 765km),” Givert said.

TAP will be 878 kilometers in length (Greece 550 km; Albania 215 km; Adriatic Sea 105 km; Italy 8 km). Its highest point will be 1,800 metres in Albania's mountains, while its lowest will be 820 metres beneath the sea.

The pipeline will transport natural gas from the giant Shah Deniz II field in Azerbaijan to Europe. The approximately 878 km long pipeline will connect with the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) at the Turkish-Greek border at Kipoi, cross Greece and Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before reaching Southern Italy.

TAP's routing can facilitate gas supply to several South Eastern European countries, including Bulgaria, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and others. TAP's landfall in Italy provides multiple opportunities for further transport of Caspian natural gas to some of the largest European markets such as Germany, France, the UK, Switzerland and Austria.

The project shareholding is comprised of BP (20%), Southern Gas Corridor CJSC (20%), Snam (20%), Fluxys (19%), Enagás (16%) and Axpo (5%).

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