Azernews.Az

By Ayya Lmahamad

After almost four and a half years since the start of construction, the Trans Adriatic Pipeline is substantially complete, consortium overseeing the construction has reported.

The Trans Adriatic Pipeline has been filled with natural gas from the Greek-Turkish border to the receiving terminal in southern Italy.

It was noted that TAP is currently finalizing preparations for launching the commercial operations and offering capacity to the market in alignment with the adjacent Transmission System Operators.

“The Interconnection Point between TAP pipeline and the natural gas transmission system of Snam Rete Gas in Puglia (Italy) is expected to be completed and ready to transport gas by mid-November 2020,” the statement reads.

Deputy head of the Public Relations and Event Management Department at Azerbaijan’s state oil company Ibrahim Ahmadov stressed that with the Southern Gas Corridor being completed Azerbaijan becomes an important contributor to the strategy of European energy supply diversification.

"Now the security and sovereignty of Azerbaijan is interconnected with the European Energy Security," he added.

It should be noted that SOCAR has a share in all segments of this projects, including Shah Deniz gas field, SCP, TANAP and TAP pipelines.

Likewise, BP stressed that the 3,500 km long Southern Gas Corridor project will enable Azerbaijan to continue contributing to strengthening energy security of Georgia, Turkey and European countries by providing an alternative source of energy resources.

"Operational testing of TAP and the connecting pipeline, which is planned to be completed by Snam Rete Gas in November this year, will allow the Shah Deniz Consortium to complete the last works required to start the twenty-five years long supplies of natural gas from Azerbaijan to Italy, Greece and Bulgaria," the message reads.

Earlier it was reported that test shipment of Azerbaijani natural gas from Shah Deniz-2 gas condensate field to Europe via Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline has started.

The Southern Gas Corridor is an initiative of the European Commission for a natural gas supply route from Caspian and Middle Eastern regions to Europe. The route from Azerbaijan to Europe consists of the South Caucasus Pipeline, the Trans Anatolian Pipeline and the Trans Adriatic Pipeline.

Trans Adriatic Pipeline is a pipeline project to transport natural gas, starting from Greece via Albania and the Adriatic Sea to Italy and further to Western Europe.

The pipeline would be supplied by natural gas from the second stage of the Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz gas field development in the Azerbaijani section of Caspian Sea through the South Caucasus Pipeline and the Trans Anatolian Pipeline. Since it will enhance energy security and diversify gas supplies for several European markets, the TAP project is supported by the European institutions and seen as a "Project of Common Interest" and a part of the Southern Gas Corridor.

The total length of the pipeline will be 878 kilometres, of which 550 kilometres in Greece, 215 kilometres in Albania, 105 kilometres in offshore, and 8 kilometres in Italy. The offshore leg will be laid at a maximum depth of 810 metres.

The initial capacity of the pipeline will be about 10 billion cubic metres of natural gas per year, with the option to expand the capacity up to 20 billion cubic metres.

TAP’s shareholders are BP (20 percent), SOCAR (20 percent), Snam (20 percent), Fluxys (19 percent), Enagás (16 percent) and Axpo (5 percent).

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Ayya Lmahamad is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @AyyaLmahamad

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