Turkey to transfer Iran gas to Italy through Albania

TIRANA, Feb. 18 – Turkey plans to cooperate with Switzerland in the construction of a natural gas pipeline traveling through the Balkans and Albania to Italy.
“Turkey and Switzerland are assessing the construction of a new natural gas pipeline, named the ‘Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) Project’ that would reach the Balkans, Albania and then Italy via Turkey,” Hilmi Guler, Turkey’s Energy Minister told reporters.
“This pipeline will carry Iranian natural gas to Salonika (in Greece) via Turkey and then to Albania, and it will pass under the Adriatic Sea to Italy,” he said.
The Swiss company EGL will cooperate with Norway’s StatoilHydro in building the 520-kilometer-pipeline, which is expected to cost 1.5 billion Euros.
The pipeline, due to be operational by 2011, would be able to carry 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year, with an option to increase capacity to 20 billion cubic meters.
Guler also said the Swiss company, EGL, is planning to build a gas power plant in Turkey. He also said Ankara may sign a preliminary agreement with Switzerland in March which would include the use of nuclear power.
The deal forms part of Turkey’s plans to build three separate nuclear power stations, with a total capacity of 5,000 megawatts, which Turkey’s government says will begin construction this year.