2011 to be decisive for TAP implementation

TIRANA, Feb. 1 – 2011 will be a decisive year for the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) Southern Gas Corridor, project officials have announced. The 520km long proposed pipeline will transport gas via Greece and Albania and across the Adriatic Sea to Italy’s southern Puglia region and further to Western Europe. The project is aimed at enhancing security of supply as well as diversification of gas supplies for the European markets.
“Last year saw encouraging progress for TAP as we reached a number of significant milestones, from several agreements on key stages of our pipeline route to welcoming a new shareholder – E.ON Ruhrgas,” said Kjetil Tungland, the managing director of TAP.
At the start of 2010, project initiators completed the registration of TAP’s permanent country offices in Greece, Albania and Italy. These offices support TAP in liaising with the authorities in the host countries, preparing and submitting all necessary applications as well as providing information about the project to the local public and media.
“In April 2011 we expect to hear which companies have been successful in procuring gas from the Shah Deniz II consortium. This will then lead directly to a decision on which transportation solution becomes the cornerstone in the Southern Gas Corridor for bringing Caspian gas to European markets,” said Kjetil Tungland.
Following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation with the Albanian government, seven key ministries validated the results of TAP’s route refinement process in Albania and endorsed the proposed new pipeline route. Routing optimisation for the pipeline continues in Greece and Italy.
The Trans-Adriatic pipeline, which is a part of the Southern Corridor, is designed to transport gas from the Caspian region and the Middle East to Europe. The pipeline will begin in Greece and pass through the territory of Albania and the Adriatic Sea, later to Italy. The gas pipeline includes a 115-kilometer-underwater section from Albania to Italy. Estimated cost of the project pipeline will be 2.2 billion dollars. The initial capacity of the pipeline is 10 billion cubic meters, maximum – 20 billion cubic meters a year.
The shareholder structure of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline project comprises of Swiss EGL (42.5%), Norwegian Statoil (42.5%) and German E.ON Ruhrgas (15%).
TAP AG has its headquarters in Baar, Switzerland and branch offices in Athens, Rome, Tirana.