TIRANA, Feb. 10 – Senior officials of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline have confirmed the project bringing Caspian gas to Europe is on schedule to start in mid-2015 in Albania with the construction of access roads and bridges.
In separate meetings in Tirana with President Bujar Nishani and Energy Minister Damian Gjiknuri this week, TAP executives confirmed the project is expected to start in June 2015 and finish by early 2020.
Energy Minster Gjiknuri told TAP’s former managing director Kjetil Tungland and his successor Ian Bradshaw that the Albanian government was working with the state-run Azerbaijani SOCAR company, one of TAP’s key shareholders, on a master plan that would make possible the establishment of the gas infrastructure in Albania.
TAP which is expected to bring gas to Europe through Greece, Albania and Italy will generate one of that Albania’s largest FDI projects, with important benefits for a number of industries, including manufacturing, utilities and transport, experts say.
TAP officials say Albania will benefit around 1 billion euros in investments from TAP’s construction in the next three years. The pipeline which is expected to carry the first gas by 2020 will transport natural gas from the giant Shah Deniz II development in Azerbaijan through Greece and Albania to Italy, from which it can be transported farther into Western and Central Europe.
Findings by an Oxford Economics study show that during its four years of construction (2015-18), inclusive of direct, indirect and induced effects, TAP will contribute a total of Euro 370 million to Albanian GDP, create an average of 9,900 jobs per year and generate Euro 90 million for the Albanian treasury.
Albanian experts have described TAP as an opportunity that would benefit Albania both economically and politically, making the country an important hub of the international gas pipeline for the Western Balkans.
